The Heart Of A Ninja
by checkerbloom
Summary: Someone wants to hurt Kakashi, where better to aim for than his heart? KakaIruKaka
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

The Mizukage of Hidden Mist was no stranger to betrayal. His shinobi had bathed in the blood of their own so many times that the stains would never wash away. For the Mist, war was a family affair. How many times had they turned on their own? How many times had they turned on _him_?

But he was still standing. Still the leader of the impenetrable kingdom of the Mist. Despite the betrayals and the attempts on his life, he was still the Mizukage, but he knew full well that he owed that fact to those who were most loyal to him. The loyalty of a handful had saved his life and his rank when the traitor, Momochi Zabuza, had attempted a bloody coup.

It was then that the Mizukage discovered who he could place his trust in. And he trusted no one more than Shinichi, a mere child at the time, only just a chuunin. The emerald eyed boy had placed himself between his Mizukage and his own brother, his only family. The boy had never stood a chance against Zabuza, one of the Legendary Seven Swordsmen. But the fact that he had tried was enough. He had broken the bonds of family for the Mizukage, and so the Mizukage had taken him under his wing, placing utmost trust in him.

But for Shinichi to do this… to walk in his older brother's footsteps and betray him, was unthinkable.

"Where is he?" the Mizukage said, his voice like gravel over silk.

"We don't know Mizukage -sama," his advisor apologised, "he covered his tracks extremely well."

Of course he did. The Mizukage had taught him after all.

"His mission was to find his brother, Momochi Zabuza," the advisor continued, "to kill him and destroy the body."

The Mizukage knew this. He was the one who granted Shinichi permission to join the ranks of the hunter-nin. He had been against it at first, Shinichi' speciality was intelligence gathering and stealth, and while those skills would aid him as a hunter, his combat abilities would pale besides the likes of his brother.

But Shinichi had been adamant that he should be the one to take his brother's life. The bonds of blood are not so easy to break after all, and Shinichi had been alone but for Zabuza for more than half of his life. Zabuza had not just betrayed the Mizukage, he had betrayed the only person on this sorry earth who loved him. Shinichi needed to be the one to kill Zabuza, for his own revenge, and because he would never allow anyone else to take his brother's life.

Despite his reservations, the Mizukage had assured Shinichi that if he made jounin he would be a hunter-nin, and he would be free to find his brother. So when, at the age of nineteen, he had passed the jounin exam, the Mizukage had handed him the red and white mask and wished him luck.

"In his last report he stated that he had picked up Momochi Zabuza's trail," the advisor said nervously, "however that was months ago, and he has failed to check in since then."

The Mizukage glared at the man before him, waiting for the words that he knew would come.

"Mizukage-sama," the advisor said softly, "too much time has passed. I realise it is difficult to accept, but we have to consider Momochi Shinichi a missing-nin."

After a minute's tense silence the Mizukage sighed and lowered his head, "very well. Notify the hunter-nin and make his desertion official."

The advisor bowed and hurried from the room.

The Mizukage wanted Shinichi to be dead. He wanted him to have found Zabuza and have been defeated. As much as it would hurt to lose the boy who had been his most loyal shinobi and treasured student, it would hurt more to have been betrayed by him. Too many people had shattered his trust, but never Shinichi.

So where had the emerald eyed hunter-nin vanished to?

oO0Oo

Like any good shinobi, Shinichi knew his strengths, and was aware of his weaknesses. He was crouched beside one of those weaknesses, smoothing his palm over the cold, decaying flesh of his brother's forehead.

He had seen the sword, stabbing the earth and glinting in the light of the setting sun. But he had to know. He had to be sure. So as silent tears that he never thought he'd shed traced the contours of his face, he dug up the graves.

For a shinobi, love is a liability. It is blind devotion and utter submission. It is handing over your soul to another person and thus giving them the means with which to destroy you. Shinichi had loved his brother, even after his betrayal. He loved him enough to want to be the one to kill him. But that had been taken away from him.

Zabuza's body was riddled with vicious bite marks, torn flesh where sharp fangs had pierced the skin. His arms had been rendered useless, just hanging strips of limp flesh, and his back was a constellation of stab wounds from various weapons. No one injury would have stolen his life, but a culmination of the violence his body had seen had eventually defeated him.

The death of Zabuza's companion was easier to determine. There was one single clean cavity eating into his chest. A hole piercing his heart, the size of a palm. The flesh around the gaping wound was burnt, the organs within had been cauterised and the ribs charred and shattered.

Shinichi knew he should burn the bodies. As a hunter-nin he knew his responsibilities. He should burn the bodies, eradicate any evidence of their existence and go home.

Beneath his mask the tears dried to his face, irritating trails of grief and anger that itched at his skin. He rolled his brother's body over and knocked it back into the grave. A hunter-nin would destroy the body, but a brother would lay the body to rest. When he stood, he slid the mask off, and dropped all that was left of his duties into the grave with the body of his older brother.

He left the graves as he had found them, and faded into the shadows. He had no tears left, only aching regrets and a burning anger. His soul had been his brother's, and a part of him had died when he found those graves. There was a gnawing hollowness inside his chest, whispering his failure into the crevices of his heart.

Despite everything, his brother had anchored him to this world. Everything Shinichi did was with Zabuza in mind. To become strong enough to defeat him, skilled enough to find him, worthwhile enough to redeem him. Now he had lost his anchor and he could feel himself floating, without purpose.

No, he still had one purpose left. He recognised the gaping cavity in that boy's chest. He made the connection with the bite marks marring his brother's body. Shinichi had promised that he would be his brother's demise, and Sharingan Kakashi, the Copy-Nin, Master of a Thousand Jutsu and shinobi of the Hidden Leaf, had turned that promise to dust.

Shinichi was a good shinobi. He knew his strengths and was aware of his weaknesses. He would never match the legend of the Copy Ninja in battle, but Shinichi had other skills. Shinichi had loved his brother, despite everything. So he would find out where Hatake Kakashi's heart resided, and then he would break it.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

The morning air was crisp. Sharp and clear, and refreshingly cool as it filled his lungs. There was still a slight mist clinging to the ground, and the sunlight glinted off the beads of dew sitting in the grass. If the sunlight could make a sound, it would tinkle like countless tiny bells as it filtered through the gaps in the leaves.

But there was no sound, only the occasional rustle of leaves as the wind breathed through them, and Kakashi's own breath, each intake a guilty reminder of what he had that they didn't.

Sometimes visiting the memorial would be soothing. Like a balm for the soul, he could look at the names of the people who had left him and remember why he kept breathing. So that he could live their share of life, carry them with him wherever he went and keep them alive. He lived by the lessons they taught him, they existed in everything he did.

At other times, visiting the stone would serve only to remind him of the mistakes he had made. Grief would braid itself through his gut and he'd pass the hours reliving every past mistake he had ever made, playing out what he would have done differently, loathing the person he once was. It was on these days that he was later than usual for any appointments he had. But once he had turned away from the names of those he had loved he would feel lighter. He could never forget his mistakes, but he had learnt from them. Hating himself for his mistakes was denying the lessons they had taught him.

But this time, he felt oddly numb as he swept his one dark eye over the names carved into the stone. His sensei had tried to teach him once what it was they kept fighting for, why they continued to wash the blood away and start again. Kakashi fought for _them_, the people most precious to him. Still precious even though they were dead. But it didn't seem enough any more. It wasn't enough to carry on for a memory, for the legacy someone else had left behind for him to defend. It was lonely, loving only the dead.

But everyone he cared about left him. That was the crux of the problem. They all left him alone in the end, until it had gotten to the point where he had stopped caring for anyone else. Because he'd be left behind again and the old pain would be brand new.

His father, Obito, Sensei, Rin. And then Sasuke and Naruto and Sakura. He'd grown comfortable with those kids, he hadn't even realised that he'd let them into his affections until Sasuke left. When he'd carried Naruto back to Konoha after finding him unconscious at the Valley of the End, he had marked off another person who had left him and found himself becoming even more attached to Naruto and Sakura, the ones left behind with him. But then Naruto had gone. Not for good like the others, still out there somewhere, but gone nonetheless. And Tsunade had stolen Sakura away. She might still be in Konoha, but he hardly saw her anymore, and truth be told, he didn't really want to. The uncomfortable truth was that he had cared for those three, but he was just Kakashi-sensei to them, perfectly easy to leave behind and forget.

He could see the pattern. He would get attached and they would leave. There was a simple solution. Don't get attached. Wasn't what they were taught as shinobi?

Still, it was lonely, loving only the dead.

oO0Oo

There is a sanctuary in the heart of Konoha that only a precious few are permitted to enter. The younger generations cast the entrance wary glances and hurry past in nervous silence. Parents hesitate outside. Hardened shinobi wonder what it looks like on the inside but would never satisfy their curiosity out of a grudging respect.

Only a select few are allowed into the teacher's lounge of Konoha's Ninja Academy.

Inside may not seem like much. There are a few battered couches; a coffee table that has been resurrected from the dead with nails and duct tape; desks with wounds from kunai and shuriken eating into the wood; tatty chairs and a carpet that is more a map of coffee stains. But it is a haven for the teachers of the next generation, because "NO STUDENTS PERMITTED."

Iruka kicked the door open and ducked the kunai that zipped through the air, only to thunk into the wall of the corridor behind him.

"Sorry!" Namida Suzume waved her hands frantically, her eyes wide behind her glasses, "I guess we should move the dart board off the back of the door; one day someone will lose an eye."

Iruka kicked the door shut behind him, revealing the dart board that was no more than a mess of pockmarked cork after bearing the brunt of the teachers' frustrations for so many years.

"Maa," Iruka grinned, "we're all more than capable of dodging a kunai."

He weaved through the battered furniture towards the coffee machine that had pride of place at the back of the teachers' lounge. When Iruka had started working in the mission room he had made the horrific discovery that the coffee _they_ had was the drink of the gods, whereas the coffee in the teachers' lounge tasted like weak tar. Since he spent more time in the Academy than in the mission room, he had set out to right this heinous wrong. He had stolen into the mission room in the dead of night, and switched the coffee machines. The jounin were still trying to work out what had happened to their precious, godly beverage.

"What's the plan for today then?" Suzume asked as she wielded a fresh kunai, scrutinising the disfigured cork hanging off the door with a look of deadly intent, "your class is going on a field trip today, right?"

Iruka nodded, "The Nara clan agreed to let me bring the children to see their deer." He filled his mug with the steaming beverage, the rich aroma of the coffee permeating the air, "we've been studying shinobi medicinal practices. The Nara clan have kept records of the preparation and effects of different medicine for generations, and the antlers of their deer have medicinal properties, so I thought this would be a nice treat."

The kunai whipped from Suzume's hand and imbedded itself in the door, stabbing straight through the abused dart board with a crack, "you're a glutton for punishment," she chuckled, "I can only imagine what kind of mischief Konohamaru will cook up when surrounded by all those deer, you'll end up with an antler up your butt, mark my words."

"Been there, done that," Iruka smirked as he blew over his coffee, "not something I'd like to repeat."

Suzume's next kunai went wide of the mark as his words sunk in. The weapon glanced off the doorknob and lodged itself in the ceiling, dangerously close to the lampshade, "you've had an antler up your butt?" she goggled.

Iruka grinned and took a sip of coffee, "close enough," he said, amusement dripping off his words, "I tried to make off with one of the deer once. In my naivety, I assumed that deer were pretty much like horses. The stag I chose for my little escapade was _not_ happy."

Suzume snorted and shook her head, "I sometimes forget what you were like. I should be more worried about Konohamaru running afoul of you than the other way around."

Iruka nodded the affirmative and finished his coffee. People tended to have difficulty relating Iruka's approachable schoolteacher demeanour to the hellion he once was.

Poor, misguided fools.

oO0Oo

A thick, white mist claimed the ancient trees that framed Konoha. It sprang up from nothing and crawled along the roots and leaves of the forest floor, like a heavy wave of milky air, rolling onwards. It breathed its way around the thick trunks, more like pale liquid pouring over the ground. Opalescent tendrils of fog reached upwards, fingering the canopy of leaves above with potent curiosity.

Within the mist, silence hung over the forest, heavy and patient. The rustle of the leaves dimmed within the weighted air and the birdsong became muted, swallowed by the blanket of white. The colour of the forest was robbed by the fog, the trees were shrouded and the green was overpowered. Everything was white and oppressive and intangible.

And in the heart of the nothingness blinked two eyes, emerald green and as hard as jewels.

The forest, lost in the fog, held it's breath.

oO0Oo

The Nara compound sat on the outskirts of Konoha. The clan house opened up onto vast fields, fenced in by the colossal trees of the forest that was home to the family's herd of deer. Across the grass, half of Iruka's class flitted back and forth between their teacher and the proud animals that pawed at the earth and shook their heads, tossing tall antlers from side to side.

Iruka was grateful that some of the animals had ventured out of the trees and across the field. He had no intention of letting his students loose in the forest, and it would have been a pity if they had come all this way and not had a chance to see the deer.

Behind the chuunin, the door to the compound was yawning open, and inside the other half of Iruka's class was cautiously poring over the documents of the Nara clan, listening intently to Nara Yoshino as she explained the properties of various herbs found in the forests of Fire Country. Iruka was rather impressed that she had managed to exert her control over his unruly students, but for such a delicate seeming woman, she gave off quite a forbidding aura.

Perhaps that was why her husband was slouched in the doorway, purposefully not looking back inside where his wife was watching the children. Iruka had split his class into two groups, the first inside with Yoshino, benefiting from generations of notes on medicine, the second out with the deer, stretching their legs, with Iruka watching them to making sure no one ended up with antlers being jammed somewhere painful

"Thank you for doing this Nara-san," Iruka smiled over his shoulder at the man slouched in the doorway.

Nara Shikaku sighed and shook his head, "troublesome."

"Shikaku!"

Iruka winced at the shrill sound of Yoshino's voice as she called for her husband.

"Shikaku! Get in here!" she screeched, "where are the records on the Akimichi pills? Have you been messing with the filing system again?"

With a world weary sigh, Shikaku turned away from Iruka and the frolicking children, and slumped into the house, where the rest of Iruka's class were cowering in Yoshino's shadow.

"Iruka-sensei!"

Iruka looked down at Moegi. The little girl was tugging excitedly on his flak jacket and beaming up at him with barely suppressed glee.

"Come and see this Iruka-sensei!" she giggled, "it's really cool! Come see!"

Iruka let her tug him along, further into the field where the grazing deer were clustered and the rest of the students were gathered.

Moegi let go of Iruka and skipped closer to one of the stags, only slowing to a cautious walk when the animal raised its head to peer at her warily.

Nara Shikaku had given the children sugar cubes and told them to see what would happen. So far the children had shied away from the stags, only approaching the animals that didn't have crowns of antlers. With a shaky arm, Moegi reached out tentatively, holding her palm open and offering one of the small sugar cubes to the distinctly unimpressed looking stag.

The animal regarded her for a moment before lowering its head, nuzzling against Moegi's palm as it lapped up the proffered treat. Moegi snapped her arm back as the stag raised its head, and then to Iruka's amazement and the children's delight, the stag bowed. It lowered its head and swept the grass with its antlers in front of Moegi, before it turned to stride away, leaving Moegi to giggle and bounce on the spot.

"Did you see that, Iruka-sensei?" she squealed, "it bowed!"

Iruka chucked and nodded to her, "I saw Moegi."

"My turn!" Konohamaru marched past the girl, a look of determination set into his face and a sugar cube clutched in his fist.

Before Konohamaru could get close enough to one of the stags, every last one of the creatures raised its head and turned. With an eerie collective consciousness, all of the deer aimed their dark eyes to the line of trees across the field, utterly still.

Konohamaru faltered and paused amidst the unmoving creatures.

"What's going on?" he asked. But before Iruka could come up with a possible explanation, the deer ran. They twisted around, leaping away from whatever it was they had sensed and flying past the children and their teacher.

Iruka could feel the ground shake each time a hoof hit the earth. The deer weaved between them, running flat out to the other side of the field. Iruka only looked back to the trees when the hammering of hooves had faded, and his body tensed.

He couldn't see the trees anymore. Where the forest had been there was now a wall of white, and it was stealing closer. A thick mist was curling and rolling over the grass, eating the green of the field as it moved. It had an unnatural quality to it, and Iruka wondered if mist was supposed to move so quickly, but it had washed over them before he could puzzle it out. Moments ago it had been a clear day. The sky was a vivid blue and the colours of the day had been startling in the sunshine. But suddenly everything was white; he could barely even see Moegi who had clutched his arm as the mist swallowed them.

Around him he could hear the voices of his students. They were yelling, but their voices were oddly muffled, as though the air was absorbing the sound. Konohamaru was cursing and yelling for his friends, and the rest were calling out for Iruka or Nara-san.

"Konohamaru!" Iruka yelled as loudly as his throat would let him, "Udon! Children! Over here!"

Ice was trickling into Iruka's chest. He knew this was no ordinary mist; it was too thick; it had moved too quickly and enveloped everything it touched. He had to find his students and get them back to the house. He couldn't pinpoint any threat, but he knew there was something sinister hiding in the mist.

Iruka managed to pry Moegi's grip from his arm. He'd need to be able to move if they were attacked and Moegi seemed intent on fusing herself to him. He carried on calling, trying to draw the children closer with his voice. Hyuuga Hanabi strode up to him first, exuding confidence when Iruka had never felt so helpless and blind. Then he realised.

"Hanabi," he said as he looked down into the girl's opal eyes, "can you see through this mist?"

Hanabi raised an eyebrow, "of course," she replied, "but it isn't normal mist."

He had formed that conclusion on his own. With Moegi clinging to his vest and Hanabi holding his hand, he let the Hyuuga heir pull him blindly through the swirling white, until he had the rest of his students gathered around him.

"Everyone form a line," Iruka called, "and hold the hand of the person next to you. It's just a little fog, nothing to worry about." His words felt like ash in his mouth, he was definitely worried, but he couldn't let his voice betray him. If the students panicked then there would be chaos. Iruka needed everyone to be calm. He knew which direction the house was in, and he was careful to keep his bearings as he checked the children over. If they got lost in this they'd never escape.

"Where's Konohamaru?" Iruka frowned when he'd checked the line of children, "Konohamaru! Hanabi, can you see him?"

Hanabi peered into the fog, the veins around her eyes bulging and throbbing. Iruka had to make a conscious effort not to clutch Moegi's hand tighter or shake the white eyed girl to make her hurry up and find Konohamaru.

Hanabi's eyes widened suddenly and she pointed towards something Iruka couldn't see. "There are people coming," she said softly, her voice further nulled by the strange mist, "three shinobi, one of them is carrying Konohamaru."

Iruka tensed and loosened his grip on Moegi's hand, in case he needed to reach for any weapons.

"Do they have any insignia?" Iruka asked her, "can you see their hitai-ates?"

She nodded, her shoulders relaxed and she looked up at her teacher, the veins of her face sinking back beneath her pale flesh, "they're Leaf shinobi."

Iruka felt the tension ebb out of him. The nervous energy he had been storing for a fight drained out through his feet and into the ground beneath him. But if one of them was carrying Konohamaru, then something must have happened to him.

Out of the pale void, three silhouettes wavered, becoming steadily more solid as they approached. For some reason Iruka felt himself tense up again; a tight coil wound in his gut, ready to snap at a moments notice. He didn't like not being able to identify the shinobi approaching them. With sudden haste, Iruka felt the need to get the students back to the Nara clan house. He knew Konohamaru was with those hazy figures, but something wasn't right, all of his instincts went into overdrive. But as his fingers wrapped more firmly around Moegi's small hand, and he shifted his weight to lead his class through the fog, the voice of the mysterious shinobi approaching them called out.

"Umino-san!" Iruka paused and waited for the figures to get closer, he recognised that voice from somewhere.

"Umino-san," the silhouette steadied, and suddenly Iruka was looking at a fellow chuunin, a man he didn't know well, but knew enough to feel much better for seeing him. The man was holding Konohamaru under one thick arm. The boy was unconscious, hanging limply in the chuunin's grip.

"Konohamaru!" Iruka yelled as the remaining two figures waded through the fog. Two more chuunin, a man he knew on sight but not by name, and a woman he had been in the same class as at the Academy. Iruka felt relief wash over him like a wave.

"He's fine Umino-san," the first shinobi said hastily, "but we have to get out of here. Follow us."

The shinobi turned and set off at a brisk walk. Iruka had a second of indecision. He felt like he was being torn in two. The house was behind them, he knew it was. But the chuunin were leading him towards the forest. He had a split second to assess the situation before he lost the shinobi carrying Konohamaru in the mist. His insides were screaming at him to turn back towards the house, but maybe the chuunin knew more about the situation than he did. They wouldn't lead him and his class into the forest, away from the village without good reason.

He made his mind up as the fog began to swallow the shinobi before him. He squeezed Moegi's hand gently and stepped further into the white world in front of them. He had to trust that those chuunin knew what was going on, they were Leaf shinobi after all, and Leaf shinobi took care of their own.

oO0Oo

Yoshino threw Shikaku a heated glare before turning to smile sweetly at the students sat at her feet. Shikaku came to the conclusion that his wife was possibly schizophrenic, and shook his head as he turned back to the door so that he could escape outside.

He halted when he saw the field. Or rather, when he didn't see the field. Outside, instead of the blue sky and green field he was expecting, was the thickest mist he had ever seen.

It was almost solid. He couldn't see the field, the trees encircling it, the sky. He stepped carefully out onto the grass and peered at his feet. The mist swirled around his ankles, giving him glimpses of muted green grass. The world had been silenced; there were no birds, no wind, no deer roaming the field. And no children.

"Iruka-sensei!" he yelled, but even his own voice was dampened in the heaviness of the air. No fog descended that fast, or so thick.

And there were no shadows in the milky existence he had stepped into.

He took a single step backwards, moving up onto the porch, his eyes fixed firmly on the fog. Only it wasn't just fog.

"Yoshino!"

"What?" his wife cried angrily, "I'm busy Shikaku!"

Shikaku ignored her and carried on, "take the kids further into the house and get Shikamaru, tell him to come here."

If Yoshino had a reply, it didn't make it to her tongue. She might wear the trousers in their family, but it was rare for her to say anything when Shikaku took on that tone of voice. Quickly and quietly, she did exactly as her husband said.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Kakashi passed his fingertips over the cold surface of the stone. _Uchiha Obito. _His fingers wavered over the name before he pulled his hand back. He wondered, not for the first time, if his name would ever be carved into the memorial. Once upon a time he had had no doubt about it. Now he wasn't even sure that he cared. Did it matter if his name would end up immortalised in stone if there was no one to read it?

He was being morbid. He realised that. The sun had crept higher until morning had retreated, but Kakashi was still standing alone, reading over the names of the dead and wondering why he cared that his name would probably go unread. He had made the conscious decision long ago that he wouldn't get close to anyone, not enough for it to hurt when they were gone. But a selfish little part of him wanted someone to be hurt when _he_ died. He bled for this village. He killed and fought and risked death for the people of Konoha, was it to much to want someone to feel what he had felt so many times, and to read his name on the memorial through a haze of tears?

He was being morbid and selfish. He wouldn't wish that sort of grief on anyone. He bled for this village because the Yellow Flash had died for it. He couldn't let his sensei's sacrifice be for nothing, so he risked his life to make sure Konoha stood for another day at least.

Surely it's better to risk your life for the living rather than the dead though.

Kakashi was aware of someone approaching before he actually heard the quick fall of feet and the laboured breathing of someone who was running with unfettered haste.

Either someone was in a hurry to get to the memorial, or they were in a hurry to get to Kakashi. He couldn't really see either being likely. But he couldn't see Shikamaru _sprinting_ being likely either, so he got the shock of his life when he turned to see the infinitely bored chuunin running towards him at full pelt. His shock only betrayed him by a slight widening of his visible eye, but he had recovered by the time Shikamaru skidded to a halt in front of him.

"Kakashi-sensei," Shikamaru gasped, drinking in oxygen as he tried to speak. Kakashi merely blinked and waited for the boy to catch his breath. If Shikamaru was out of breath, then there was something not right with the world.

"Hokage-sama," he breathed, "sent me. You have to come to my house. Iruka-sensei and his students have gone missing."

Kakashi nodded once. He had no idea why he had been summoned to the Nara clan house because of some missing Academy students, but he was used to blindly following orders without a scrap of knowledge. He'd ask questions when he got there. So with a flare of chakra, a tang of ozone and a swirl of leaves, Kakashi was in front of Shikamaru's house.

oO0Oo

If it was possible, the fog was thicker between the trees. It wasn't right, the mist shouldn't have gripped the forest so completely; Iruka had never seen anything like it. It was only his reflexes that prevented him from walking into trees face first.

The three chuunin ahead of him were being outdone by the mass of white too. Iruka had lost sight of them, but he could follow their curses and grunts as they tripped. They weren't far ahead of him, but the deeper into the forest they got, the tighter Iruka's chest felt. The entire situation was wrong; where were they going?

Trailing behind him, his students tripped and faltered over roots protruding from the ground. Someone was sniffling quietly, and Moegi's hand was fastened tightly around Iruka's fingers. They were frightened, and Iruka couldn't blame them, his chest was being bound with anxiety with each step, but there was nothing to do but keep going. Hopefully it would become clear where they were headed soon enough.

Iruka stopped short of walking into the tall chuunin holding Konohamaru. The three shinobi he had been following had halted in a small clearing within the forest, or so Iruka guessed, he couldn't actually see anything.

"Iruka-sensei," Hanabi whispered.

Iruka turned; the young Hyuuga had sidled up to him. Iruka could barely make her out through the mist, her eyes blended in perfectly with the air around them; it unsettled Iruka, but he smiled down at her reassuringly.

"What is it Hanabi?" he asked.

The girls eyes darted about, a frown had shadowed her delicate features, "there are more people," she said softly, "coming this way."

"What people?" Iruka asked, trying not to inject the worry he felt into his words.

"Umino-san," the kunoichi in front of him called, the one he had attended the Academy with, "sit the children down here, we need to wait for a few minutes."

Iruka opened his mouth to ask what they were waiting for; he wanted to know what the hell was going on, where were they, who were the people Hanabi could see?

But the tall chuunin holding Konohamaru spoke first, "are you sure this is it? I can't tell 'cause of this blasted fog!"

"You think _they_ did it?" the other chuunin asked, "they could have warned us!"

"Iruka-sensei," Hanabi hissed, Iruka knelt down beside her as she edged closer to him, "I can see them more clearly now. They're coming this way. They have musical notes on their hitai-ates."

Iruka felt all of the air in his lungs freeze. Sound shinobi.

Iruka shot to his feet and grabbed the nearest chuunin's arm, "we have to go, there are Sound shinobi bearing down on us."

The chuunin holding Konohamaru turned to look at him. His lips peeled back over his teeth in a gruesome smile and he spun a kunai around his forefinger, "I know, Umino-san."

oO0Oo

Shinichi perched himself upon a branch and peered down into the clearing. He'd poured the mist over the forest and into Konoha so that he could enter the village without being seen, but his attention had been drawn to the group of shivering children huddled around their teacher. He was aware of the enemy shinobi trying to navigate the fog, although what they were doing stumbling around the forest so close to Hidden Leaf was a mystery. In a few minutes, the Leaf shinobi and the Sound shinobi would be face to face, and Shinichi felt oddly entertained.

"What do you mean, 'you know'?" the schoolteacher asked. His face was a mask of quietly contained fury; the children huddled behind him had started to whimper.

The shinobi holding the unconscious child swept the kunai he was holding beneath the child's chin, pressing the metal into the soft flesh near his pulse point, the manic grin still claiming his face, "no one has to get hurt Umino-san," he said, "don't do anything foolish."

Shinichi decided that he could sneak into the village later. His greatest skill was intelligence gathering after all; it could be useful to know how the Leaf shinobi would deal with this type of situation. Slowly, he pulled the fog back a little, until only a light mist was flowing through the clearing. He was careful to wrap the fog around himself more tightly though, it would be unfortunate if he was seen, and he didn't want to have to kill these children.

He wasn't sure if the children would end up dead or not anyway. He didn't like the idea of watching a group of children die, but he had business of his own to attend to, he wasn't going to get involved.

And maybe their teacher would be able to get them out of their predicament.

oO0Oo

Kakashi stepped off the porch and joined Shikaku outside. He had recognised the fog when he had arrived at the Nara clan house. The pale smoke had begun to reach inside the building, if it continued it would envelope the entire village, leaving Konoha not so much hidden in leaves as hidden in mist.

"It's a jutsu," Shikaku said by way of acknowledging the Copy-nin, "do you recognise it?"

"Kirikagure no jutsu," Kakashi replied as he gazed across the field, bathed in thick fog so dense that the air was dyed white, "the hidden mist technique, Shinobi of Hidden Mist use it."

"How do we dispel it?" Shikaku asked, looking away from the fog and to Kakashi for the first time.

"By attacking the person who cast the jutsu," Kakashi said simply, "Shikamaru mentioned Umino Iruka and his students."

"They were out in the field when the fog appeared," the other man said, "Iruka-sensei brought them here to see the deer and the medical documents we keep."

"Are you sure they're not still in the field?" Kakashi asked as Shikamaru burst into the room behind them, panting heavily.

"I did a cursory sweep," Shikaku said, "I couldn't find them, but the fog is too thick to see much anyway."

"How long has the class excursion been planned?" Kakashi said.

"Iruka approached me about it a week ago," Shikaku moved closer to Kakashi, "it wasn't a secret, anyone could have found out about it."

"And planned _this_," Kakashi indicated the vast fog and finished Shikaku's thought, "how many children did he have with him?"

"Nine," Shikaku stated, "the rest of the class was inside at the time."

Kakashi turned to peer through the open door. The lights had been turned on inside to fight the gloom the fog was casting; Shikamaru was hovering beneath the lights, his breath coming easier with his brief rest.

"Shikamaru," Kakashi called, "go to the Hyuuga clan house, bring as many of them back with you as you can, they'll be able to see through the fog."

The chuunin rolled his eyes, nodded once, and then set off at a run through the room and out of the door again.

Kakashi bit his thumb and glanced at Shikaku, the other man wouldn't be able to use any of his clan's abilities in the fog, but he'd be a piss poor excuse for a jounin if he didn't have a few more tricks up his sleeve.

"We'll be able to track them through the fog," Kakashi said as he smeared blood across his palm, "but if we end up getting drawn into some kind of battle, we'll probably end up fighting blind."

Shikaku sighed and shook his head, "troublesome."

Kakashi slammed his palm to the grass. The smoke that erupted from beneath his palm was oddly colourful when set against the pure white backdrop of the fog. His entire pack of nin-dogs looked up at him as the smoke cleared.

The last time Kakashi had seen the Hidden Mist technique, it had been in the Country of the Wave, courtesy of Zabuza. He could only hope that whoever was responsible for it this time wasn't as dangerous as that guy, although what a Hidden Mist technique was doing in Konoha was anybody's guess. And why it was being used to whisk school teaching chuunin and their students away was a complete mystery.

oO0Oo

Iruka's heart began hammering in his chest when he saw Konohamaru start to stir. Please, please don't let him do anything stupid, not now.

The tall chuunin holding the boy planted Konohamaru's feet onto the ground, holding him firmly against his chest, the kunai still flush against Konohamaru's jugular.

"Huh, wha..?" Konohamaru blinked and looked around, and Iruka was certain he had turned an interesting shade of green as he watched Konohamaru's head turn from side to side, his neck brushing dangerously close to the glinting metal held there.

"Behave kid," the chuunin grunted as he watched Iruka, "I don't want to slit your throat, but there are plenty of other kids here, so it would be no great loss."

Konohamaru's eyes took a few moments to focus, and once the words has seeped into his consciousness and he came to the realisation that he was being held against a strange shinobi with a very sharp object at his throat, his face darkened.

"Let go of me, bastard!" he screamed as he twisted in the larger man's grip.

"Konohamaru!" Iruka yelled, "stop it! Keep still!"

"Let go!" Konohamaru gripped the chuunin's arms and struggled to get free, until the blade of the kunai didn't so much as hover at his throat, as it cut into the skin. The chuunin pressed the cold metal into Konohamaru's flesh, drawing blood.

Konohamaru stiffened. His eyes widened when he realised that there really was a kunai digging into his neck. One swift movement and his throat would be wide open.

"Keep still," the chuunin spat as he looked back up at Iruka, "we're all going to play nicely, aren't we sensei."

The rest of Iruka's students pressed together behind him; he had pulled his hand free of Moegi's, receiving a small yelp from the girl, but Iruka needed to have his hands free, even though he had no idea how to get them out of this. How could he have been so stupid? All of his instincts had been screaming at him not to follow the three chuunin, but he'd ignored them and led the children into a life threatening situation. If anything happened to any of them, it was his fault.

They had been right outside the Nara clan house, and now they were in the thick of the forest, possibly surrounded by enemy shinobi, completely alone. He had taken the children away from safety and led them right into danger.

Did anyone even know they were missing yet?

"You're late!" the kunoichi yelled. Iruka followed her gaze that was aimed over his shoulder. Behind him, and behind his students, three Sound shinobi strode through the mist and came to a halt a few feet away.

Iruka tried to herd the children behind him, but there were enemies on all sides now, they were surrounded. Six shinobi against one chuunin and a bunch of pre-genins. He didn't fancy his odds, especially not with blood dribbling down Konohamaru's neck and staining his scarf. But at least the mist seemed to have thinned out. The clearing was still bathed in pale swirls, but he could see better now. The colours were muted, but they were there.

"We didn't think you'd actually manage it," one of the Sound-nin jeered. Iruka swept an objective glance over the Sound shinobi. With a single look he could see that he was outclassed. Maybe if there was only one of them, but there were three, and three supposed 'Leaf' shinobi behind him.

One of the Sound-nin had a katana strapped at his waist; another had a long, wooden staff held lightly in his right hand. The third didn't seem to have any special weapons, but that was hardly comforting, maybe he didn't need them.

"Let's get out of here," the Leaf kunoichi hissed, "Orochimaru wanted proof of our loyalty, well here's the proof, we're bringing him new recruits."

"One of them's a Hyuuga," the third chuunin chuckled smugly, "I'm sure he'll like that. I hear he collects blood-line limits."

Hanabi cast him the coldest look he had likely ever received, even as she inched closer to Iruka. Even though his blood ran cold at their words, Iruka felt that he could breathe easier knowing that they weren't going to kill his students. Still, there was no way he was letting them take the kids to Orochimaru.

"You won't get away with it," Iruka stated, "Konoha won't let you take these children, how far do you think you'll get?"

"Enough!" the Sound shinobi with the sword snapped as he stepped closer to Iruka, "we'll take the children, but we don't need their teacher."

Iruka's eyes widened as the length of glinting metal was drawn out of its scabbard. His options were none existent. He couldn't protect the children, himself, _and_ stop them from slitting Konohamaru's throat at the same time.

But when the sword came down, he dodged it on instinct, and then he couldn't _not_ fight.

oO0Oo

He wasn't bad, Shinichi mused from his vantage point. The schoolteacher was fast, he'd dodged that katana with practiced ease. The blade had slammed to the ground rather than cleaving him in two. The teacher hadn't hesitated after that, he'd stamped his foot over the blade, keeping it lodged within the ground, and kicked.

The Sound shinobi had tumbled back with the blow to the face, releasing his hold on the katana so that the teacher could sweep it up himself. The male Leaf ninja milling around in the clearing had lunged forwards, but this 'Umino-san' swept to the side. He whirled around as though he were part of some deadly dance and laced the katana though the air, bringing the blade downwards to slice through the ninja's ankles. The blade severed the man's Achilles tendons in one swipe and sent the shinobi crashing to the ground, screaming blue murder and bleeding all over the forest floor.

The children had started screaming too, one of the girls was crying, but the boy trapped in the bigger chuunin's arms whooped in delight, even with a kunai spilling his blood.

But then it had all come to an abrupt end as the boy who had whooped yelled in pain, his captor pressed the kunai further into the kid's neck. There would probably be a scar, but with a whisper of pressure added, the kunai would kill him.

Shinichi was vaguely disappointed that the teacher had frozen at the sound of the boy's yell. He had found himself rooting for the teacher, he always seemed to feel for the underdog, but if the teacher had carried on it would have been a death sentence for that boy. Shinichi sighed and sat back on the branch.

"Drop the sword, Umino-san," the chuunin with the kunai at the boy's neck sneered.

The teacher looked from the boy with the kunai at his throat, to the rest of his class, and then at his enemies. He sighed deeply before dropping the sword, and didn't protest when the Leaf kunoichi grabbed his wrist and twisted his arm around his back.

Shinichi might have been mistaken, but he was sure he heard the woman apologise to the man she was holding.

It was then that Shinichi saw the girl. One of the students, standing close to the rest of her class. But while the rest of the children were watching their teacher, this girl's white eyes were trained on him.

He'd been seen. That girl could pierce the fog wrapped around him as though it wasn't even there. Her eyes drilled into his, and his heart skipped a beat. He couldn't afford to be seen.

He shifted on the branch, ready to vanish into the trees, when he stopped, frozen to the spot, green eyes firmly rooted to the action below. Countless things happened all at once. The children moved, the teacher knelt, and the ground exploded.

Shinichi gaped.

oO0Oo

Iruka hissed as his arm was twisted painfully behind his back.

"I'm sorry Iruka," the kunoichi breathed softly into his ear.

The whispered words of apology were pointless seeing as he was most certainly not going to forgive her. In fact, he'd probably return from the grave to haunt her for the rest of her days.

Behind him he heard the students gasp and cry out as the kunoichi shoved him forwards, tightening her grip on his arm, and Konohamaru cursed loudly and screamed for them to let his teacher go. But the world fell away as Iruka watched the Sound-nin retrieve his sword. The silver glinted dully as it was swept through the mist. Its wielder was glaring at him with icy venom, a pretty bruise blossoming on his face. Iruka felt slightly smug at that, until the blade glinted again, and Iruka remembered that he was about to die.

The Sound-nin twirled his blade in his hand as he stepped closer to Iruka, bringing the metal across him in a sweeping arc. Iruka swallowed, wracking his mind for something, any semblance of an idea. He had to keep his students safe. But if he fought back, they'd kill Konohamaru. At least this way they'd be alive. Iruka knew that the Hokage would send ANBU to find the children. A squad of shinobi were probably already looking for them now. They'd be found; Iruka just had to keep them alive.

He'd die to keep them alive.

The clearing was filled with an almighty roar, the battle cries of children as Iruka's students charged as one entity towards the woman holding Iruka. Iruka didn't have time to react as the hoard of tiny arms and legs pummelled into the kunoichi, knocking her clean off her feet before she could comprehend what they were doing.

But she hadn't let go of Iruka, she dragged him down to the earth with her, even as she was pounced upon by children. Iruka hit the floor with a grunt, but the grip on his wrist loosened in the chaos as his students leapt on the woman. Iruka twisted away, frantic for something to do, someway to get the children away. He scrambled to his knees when the light hit the metal of the Sound-nin's katana again, and this time, Iruka wouldn't have time to dodge. He watched the blade cut through the mist between them, time slowing to a crawl. Shouldn't his life flash before his eyes? All he saw was mist and metal, he felt decidedly short changed.

Beneath his knees the earth vibrated. The sensation hummed through his legs. The blade arched closer to his head, and the earth erupted.

Dirt sprayed back into his face, but he daren't close his eyes in case he was hallucinating. The forest floor burst open as a blur of fur and fangs and snarling growls leapt out of the depths of hell and thrust themselves towards the Sound-nin bearing down on him.

When Iruka blinked, the shinobi was pinned in place by the teeth of a pack of dogs, each snarling mouth clamped over part of his body, the sword dangling loosely in his hand as jaws sank into his arm. The Sound-nin was rooted to the spot with the weight and teeth of the dogs, each animal with a Leaf hitai-ate adorning their bodies and a henohenomoheji symbol scrawled across the material over their backs.

"Yo."

To Iruka, that one word was the most beautiful sound ever uttered.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Iruka looked up at the slouched back of the Copy-nin. Kakashi was standing between him and the Sound shinobi, hands in pockets and shoulders drooped in his infamous posture of indifference. Iruka never would have thought that posture could inspire confidence, but he felt the sudden urge to laugh.

His laughter died in his throat however, when he heard the children yell behind him. He spun around on his knees, just in time to see the kunoichi they had tackled heave herself to her feet, children hanging off her with faces of fury.

Iruka saw the glint of a kunai in her hand. He saw the panicked look of the students faces. A sudden red spray. He pounced.

The kunoichi leapt back as Iruka shoved his students away. Udon's face had turned deathly white, his shirt torn and a steady drip of crimson evident across his stomach. Iruka saw red.

He swept out with his foot to catch the kunoichi's feet, but the woman had remembered herself. She leapt into the air and somersaulted backwards, coming to land on the trunk of the nearest tree. She crouched, spider like across the bark and glared ravenously down at Iruka and the suddenly hysterical students.

"Hatake-san," the tall chuunin holding Konohamaru purred, the sound of his voice silenced the frantic children.

Iruka snapped his head to look at the tall chuunin and his most unruly student. Konohamaru was wincing as his captor tightened his grip on the boy. Iruka wanted rip the man to pieces, but he was frozen solid at the sight of the blood dribbling down Konohamaru's neck.

"Don't move, Hatake-san," the tall chuunin smiled sadistically, "it would be a shame for Sandaime's grandson to meet his end here."

Iruka swallowed hard, and looked back towards Kakashi. The Copy-nin would do something, he'd get them out of this, he was a _legend_ for god's sake! Iruka had never seen the man in actual combat, but the stories were enough. Hatake Kakashi was a genius, Konohamaru _wasn't_ going to die.

But Kakashi hadn't shifted. He was still slouching in the same position, still staring at the three Sound shinobi before him. He hadn't turned at the sound of the tall chuunin's words. It was as though he hadn't even heard them.

But then another voice burred out of the mist.

"I hope you realise," the voice sounded infinitely exasperated, "that you're trespassing. This is technically still Nara land."

Iruka turned back to where the voice had sounded from. His eyes met Konohamaru's, who was staring back with wide but determined eyes.

Iruka frowned. The arm that was angled at Konohamaru's neck, holding the kunai to his skin, was shaking. Iruka peered closer. Through the faint breath of fog that was still hanging over them, and he saw the faintest of shadows. A tendril of shade was wrapped around the chuunin's arm. It was only faint. Weaker than it could be. But the mist was muting all light and colours, the shadows were near non-existent since the fog was blocking the light.

But it was enough for Nara Shikaku to force the tall chuunin's hand away from the slender curve of Konohamaru's neck.

"Konohamaru!" Shikaku's voice resounded from nowhere, "move!"

The boy didn't need to be told twice. Konohamaru leapt away from his captor, skidded to Iruka's side and turned to glare at the chuunin who had shed his blood, just as the shadow around the chuunin's arm failed and set him free. Iruka felt his chest lighten when he saw that the cut across Konohamaru's neck wasn't too deep.

Nara Shikaku stepped into sight from behind the tree that the tall Chuunin was standing in front off. The bored jounin leant against the bark and folded his arms across his chest, "would you like to explain what you think you're doing?"

The traitorous chuunin kept his eyes firmly on Iruka and his students, not turning to look at the jounin behind him, but his reply was forced out through gritted teeth.

"I doubt you have the capacity to understand our motives," he spat, "the darlings of Konoha: geniuses and blood-line limits and clan abilities. Us mere mortals have to slave away to get half of the recognition the likes of you get. I'm sick of being a tool for this blasted village without getting anything in return."

To the side, the two Sound shinobi that weren't at the mercy of Kakashi's dogs moved. The Copy-nin matched their movements, mirroring them and keeping himself between them and Iruka's students. Like three wild creatures, measuring each other up.

Iruka backed up towards his students, herding them together behind him. Udon was crouched on the ground, blood spreading through the material of his clothes. Iruka needed to get them away, get Udon to a hospital, but a tense hush had spread throughout the clearing. The shinobi were eyeing each other up, waiting for someone to make the first move, and Iruka couldn't be the one to do that, he had to wait until the jounin had a firm handle on the situation before risking escape. As skilled as Kakashi and Shikaku were, they were outnumbered.

"I see," Shikaku drawled, watching the tall chuunin with narrowed eyes, "tell me, how many times have you failed the jounin exam now?"

"You think I don't know what's going on?" the treacherous chuunin screamed, whipping around finally to face Shikaku, "we aren't good enough to join you up on your pedestals! If my name was Nara, or Hatake, I'd have passed the first time, but I'm not worthy to join the elite, not matter what I do! Konoha is a joke, and Orochimaru was the first to realise it!"

"All this because you aren't good enough to be promoted?" Shikaku sighed and shook his head, "well, if you're really good enough to be a jounin, you should have no trouble against me. After all, as you've probably noticed, my clan abilities don't particularly like mist. I've hopped off my pedestal."

Shikaku strolled away from the tree and turned to fully face the chuunin. Iruka took another step back; the chuunin's attention was aimed away from him and his students, he should move now, get the children away while no one was looking.

But someone _was_ looking; as he edged closer to the students the kunoichi leapt. She pushed herself off the bark, flipped through the air and landed heavily on the ground on the other side of the students, blocking their escape.

Iruka kept his eyes on her as he crouched down beside Udon, moving slowly and cautiously.

"Sharingan Kakashi," one of the Sound-nin called, "I suggest you call your dogs off."

The wound wasn't deep, Udon looked pale and frightened, but he wasn't in any immediate danger. He'd need stitches, but he'd be fine.

Which was more than Iruka could say for that bitch. As soon as he had determined Udon's state, his eyes had shot back to the kunoichi. If looks could kill, she would be no more than a mess of blood and guts decorating the branches. The fact that Udon wasn't about to perish served only to calm Iruka's hammering heart and fuel the rage burning in his chest. She could have killed him.

If his students hadn't been huddled around him, blinking back tears in an attempt to be brave, Iruka would have dived for her and renderd her limb from limb. But he had to keep the children together and wait for an opportunity to get them to safety. They couldn't just go running madly into the trees, he had to keep them together and keep them calm.

"Iruka-sensei?" Moegi was crouched beside him, her eyes wide and her lip trembling, but there were no tears, none of them were crying, and Iruka had never felt prouder, "will Udon…"

"He'll be alright," Iruka said in the most soothing voice he could manage since he wanted to spit acid at the kunoichi watching them, "it's not deep. There's nothing to worry about now, Kakashi-sensei and Nara-san are here, we just have to keep together and be patient. They won't let anything happen to us."

The children nodded, but they huddled closer to Iruka anyway, as though his mere presence was a protective bubble around them.

Without warning, Shikaku and the tall chuunin leapt for one another. The students yelped in surprise at the sudden movement. The two opponents locked arms, their feet sliding over the dirt, pushing and pulling.

The tall chuunin's face was all teeth and snarls and decompressed anger, but Shikaku blinked in contempt and sighed. It only further fed his opponents fury.

"What makes you worthy of being a jounin and not me?" the chuunin yelled, spitting in Shikaku's face.

Shikaku shifted his stance, "well, I never tried to kidnap a bunch of children and cart them off to Orochimaru," he replied, right before he tilted his head back, and then threw his head forwards, slamming his skull into the chuunin's face.

As the chuunin was sent flying backwards, the kunoichi shifted her attention from Iruka and the children to Shikaku. The jounin had leapt to where his opponent was sprawled, pinning him to the forest floor when the kunoichi launched a hail of glinting blades in his direction. Iruka didn't have time to yell a warning before the kunai had slid through Shikaku's flesh, sinking into him.

Iruka's heart froze, hadn't he just told the children that everything would be fine, that Kakashi and Shikaku would make sure nothing happened to them? As the kunai stabbed into Shikaku the students cried out, disbelieving wide eyes watching as Shikaku pitched forwards and…

Turned into a log of wood.

By the time Iruka had swept his gaze back across the clearing, the kunoichi had been thrown upwards. Shikaku's kick sent her up into the branches, and with a few quick hand seals from the jounin, the leaves had shifted and stretched, until the shrieking woman was trapped in a nest of green, held in place high above them within the forest canopy. Like a wriggling fly in a spider's web of leaves.

"I won't ask again, Kakashi!" Iruka turned back to the Sound-nin. Kakashi's legs were bent slightly at the knees, in preparation to move at a moments notice.

Iruka saw his chance. All the enemy shinobi were occupied, one captured by Kakashi's dogs, his companions focused tenuously upon the Copy-nin. The Leaf kunoichi trapped within the leaves and the tall chuunin was getting to his feet, ready to engage Shikaku again. Iruka swept Udon into his arms. They'd make their move now, with everyone's attention elsewhere.

The Sound shinobi who had spoken raised his arms, empty of any weapons, and held his hands out before him like the conductor of an orchestra, "call off your dogs, and no harm will come to those children."

Iruka gasped.

There was no air in his lungs. There was no air at all. Each gasp gave him nothing; he couldn't breath. He was drowning.

All around him the children flapped, mouths agape, flailing their arms, clutching their throats. They couldn't breath, their air had been stolen. Each time Iruka dried to drag a breath into him he came up with nothing. Panic stole away with his thoughts. He couldn't breath. Udon's eyes widened in fright up at his teacher. They had to get away before they asphyxiated. But words wouldn't form on his tongue. The children were panicking. He'd never get them to follow him, not quickly or calmly enough.

He looked back across the clearing, watched the Sound-nin weave his fingers, conducting the air. A sly smile spread across his lips. Kakashi cast a fleeting glance back in Iruka's direction, his one visible eye widening by a fraction before drilling back into the Sound-nin who was slowly killing them.

"Stop!" the Copy-nin commanded. But his opponent just smiled.

"Let our comrade go," he said calmly.

Iruka dropped to his knees. Udon's fingers were whitening around his flak jacket as he tried to get air into his lungs. Moegi's tears had finally fallen. Hanabi's face was a picture of terror. Konohamaru was scrabbling at the dirt beneath his hands. Desperation washed over Iruka as he heard his students struggle for breath. They were suffocating. He needed to get them away but none of them were coherent enough to understand what he needed them to do.

His eyes sought out Kakashi again, silently praying for him to help the students before they stopped trying to breathe and never breathed again.

oO0Oo

Shinichi daren't even blink.

That was him. Hatake Kakashi. The man he had come to find. He couldn't take his eyes off the lithe figure below. He wasn't sure what he had been expecting. His brother had been formidable, and so the Copy-nin had to be akin to a force of nature by comparison. But beneath the branches, on the ground below, Sharingan Kakashi looked remarkably… human.

That in itself was frightening. For the legend that was Sharingan Kakashi, the infamy and the genius, to be packed tightly into that remarkably frail, human form, was terrifying. In Shinichi's dreams, or rather his nightmares, Kakashi was a giant. A demon from the depths of hell. Muscle and height and frightening presence. He was a monster in Shinichi's mind. But the man below was merely that, a man.

Someone with so much blood on their hands, someone who's very name inspired fear and awe and respect, someone who had been killing since he was a mere child, had no right to look so unremarkable.

For a moment, Shinichi wondered if the man below was really Sharingan Kakashi. He wondered if perhaps he had been wrong, and his brother had fallen at the hands of another.

But then the students and their teacher lost the ability to breath. Kakashi listened to their struggling, demanded that the Sound-nin free them, and then he moved.

Kakashi didn't make it to the shinobi stealing the students' breath. The third Sound-nin threw himself forwards, his staff wielded above his head, ready to strike the Copy-nin before he could save the students.

Their movements were at opposite ends of the spectrum. The Sound-nin heaved his wooden staff about him, swinging wildly, with strength but no finesse. The Copy-nin swept to the side as though he were made of wind. The wood of his opponent's staff connected with the ground, the tree, thin air as Kakashi danced.

Sharingan Kakashi was all fluid grace and liquid energy. Each move he made seemed to take no effort at all. Each step and parry, each turn and stance was dance-like in quality. He was unremarkable no longer. He became the force of nature Shinichi expected him to be. Each movement was encased in feline elegance and fierce power.

But the other Sound shinobi's fingers continued to weave the air, and each step Kakashi took towards him was thwarted by the man twirling the staff. The students were dropping, falling one by one.

A shrill whistle pierced the air. Shinichi ripped his eyes from his enemy. The other Leaf jounin, the one with the sighs and the bored expression, had his fingers past his lips, whistling loudly before he darted away from his opponent's wild lunge.

Shinichi frowned as he tried to understand what the whistle had been for. No one seemed to have paid the sound any heed but him. He looked at the dogs still holding their victim in place, teeth deep within flesh and blood staining their lips. The sight sent a wild jolt through Shinichi. Zabuza had bite marks on his body, in all of the same places. Those dogs had tasted his brother's blood too.

A roll of thunder broke Shinichi's thoughts. It took an instant for him to realise that the sound wasn't thunder. Instead of rolling away and fading as thunder should, this sound grew louder, carrying on and drawing closer.

Through the trees, with lightning speed, the stags that the jounin had called with his whistle thundered into the clearing.

The Copy-nin jumped out of their path; a hoard of stampeding stags, all with crowns, regal fingers reaching to the sky from their heads, angled at the Sound-nin who had been tackling Kakashi.

The shinobi did not even have time to lift his staff. The stags crashed into him, capturing him within their antlers and ramming him through the clearing.

"Forgot whose land he was trespassing on!" the bored looking jounin yelled, bored no longer as he dodged shuriken and kunai.

Kakashi's stance changed. Shinichi was impressed, disgusted and angered by the display of raw power before him. The Copy Ninja angled his hand downwards and began collecting chakra in his palm. The blue flicker of lighting danced through the mist, sizzling in Kakashi's hand as he looked past the stags that were still coming, cutting a path between him and the shinobi suffocating the children.

The ninja with the weaving fingers couldn't see Kakashi's intention past the stags. But the stampede of animals thinned out. His eyes widened when he saw the flickering held within Kakashi's hand.

Countless birds chirped. Lightning shot from Kakashi's palm. The Copy-nin moved.

Shinichi missed the movement, it was too fast. One moment the man was still, energy glowing in his palm. The next he was standing before the Sound shinobi, his arm outstretched, his hand shot clear through his opponents chest.

Shinichi felt sick. He'd seen the result of that move, the gaping hole in the chest of his brother's companion. The battle he had just witnessed twisted in his mind. The Sound shinobi's face became the face of the youth who had been buried beside Zabuza. The shinobi trapped by teeth and fur a little way off became his brother. Shinichi saw clearly in his thoughts his brother's death. He would have leapt into the clearing and attacked Sharingan Kakashi, he would have screamed, but his body was shaking. The leaves gathered around him rustled with the unbidden movements.

He swallowed down as much air as he could, and leapt away from the clearing. Taking the fog with him, and leaving the bloodshed behind. He had seen the Copy Ninja now. He knew who he was. Now he would watch and wait, and strike at Hatake Kakashi's weakest point.

Whoever that happened to be.

oO0Oo

Kakashi drew his hand from the Sound shinobi's chest and tried to ignore the gore that was dripping from his hand. As the Sound-nin dropped to the floor, as dead as it was possible to be, Kakashi whipped around to look at Iruka and his students.

They were breathing. Panting actually, drinking oxygen in with relief flooding their faces. Iruka looked paler that Kakashi had ever seen him, but he was uttering calm words to the children, giving them reassuring touches and smiling soothingly.

Kakashi gave the situation a cursory evaluation. The mist was gone. One Sound-nin was still struggling pathetically in the iron jaws of his nin-dogs. Another had been literally swept of his feet by the Nara clan's deer, and at the speed they had been travelling they were probably halfway to Waterfall Country by now. Kakashi glanced towards Shikaku who had somehow managed to tie the traitorous Leaf chuunin up with roots that had reached up from the ground. That left one more.

Kakashi looked up to where the kunoichi had been trapped, to find only broken branches and slashed leaves, a hole in the canopy that let the blue sky peek in.

Before he could voice any words of warning, the woman dropped.

Iruka reacted faster than even Kakashi might have; he shoved his students out of the way, placing himself right beneath the falling kunoichi in the process.

The woman dropped heavily onto him, a kunai in either hand. Iruka twisted beneath her and grabbed the woman's wrists, holding the kunai away from his face. Neither Shikaku or Kakashi had time to react before Iruka rolled the two of them over, pinning the woman to the forest floor by her wrists.

The kunoichi glared up at him, flipped the kunai in her hands so that they were aiming down towards Iruka's hands, and she plunged them into Iruka's flesh, stabbing the curve between hand and arm, spraying arterial blood from the teacher's wrists.

If Iruka made any kind of noise at all at the injury, it was drowned out by the screams of his students'.

Iruka let go of the kunoichi's wrists, moved his punctured flesh away from the blades angled into him, and punched her square in the face.

Kakashi smirked. One enemy caught by his dogs, another halfway to Waterfall Country; one with his heart ripped out; one tied up by the roots of the forest's trees, and one knocked out by a very angry looking schoolteacher.

A groan emanated from somewhere behind Kakashi. He turned to look.

And one with his Achilles tendons slashed to ribbons, currently trying to drag himself into a thorn thicket. Kakashi contemplated stabbing the man's feet to the ground to thwart his escape attempt, but figured that with children present, that might be a little uncalled for. He settled for grabbing the man's ankle, earning himself an agonised scream as he gripped shredded flesh, and dragged him back into the clearing.

For a few moments, the children were paralysed, eyes like saucers as they looked at their teacher who was sitting atop the unconscious form of the kunoichi. Then reality kicked in, and the forest was filled with yells and cheers and worried cries at they threw their little bodies at their teacher.

"Iruka-sensei! Are you alright?"

"That was amazing Iruka-sensei!"

"Oh no, your wrists, Iruka-sensei!"

"You're the coolest Iruka-sensei!"

Kakashi watched Iruka's students coo over their teacher like clucking little mother hens. Watching them fuss, Kakashi knew, with a solid brand of certainty, that if _Iruka's_ name were to be etched into the stone of the memorial, the streets would be washed in tears. His students, past and present, would break at their loss. There would be countless people to read his name. It would be read so many times that the kanji would be nothing more than chicken scratch, the syllables no more than sounds. The sun would refuse to rise with the weight of Konoha's grief.

Iruka smiled wearily at the children who seemed to want to bubble wrap him and carry him home. Kakashi wondered what it was like to know you were loved so completely. Was it comforting, or scary?

Amidst the commotion, a veritable army of Hyuuga dropped into the clearing. A dozen pairs of pale eyes taking everything in.

Kakashi shook his head, "and people get angry with _me_ for being late!"

oO0Oo

Iruka couldn't stop his hands from shaking. For some insane reason, he wanted to laugh. The situation wasn't remotely funny, but it was bubbling in his chest, tickling at his lips. He was high on relief but his energy was ebbing now that his adrenalin had dropped through his feet. He wanted to laugh, but his hands wouldn't stop shaking.

And laughing while sitting in the Hokage's office at the hospital wouldn't be very appropriate. Especially since he had just finished giving her his report. Godaime Hokage was watching him carefully from the other side of the desk. He had relayed to her the events of the day efficiently and emotionlessly, as he had been taught. He was still waiting for the harsh words. The reprimand. The withdrawal of trust that was sure to come because _he had led the children into a battlefield._

They had given him their hands, their trust, and he had led them away from safety and into danger. They could have been snatched away to Orochimaru. They could have been _killed._

And still the Hokage was silent. Studying him over steepled fingers, her elbows resting on the desk. Iruka forced himself not to fidget. Beneath the bandages, his wrists itched.

"Thank you Iruka," the Hokage sighed softly, finally, "you can go."

Iruka nodded and stood. His legs felt like cooked noodles. The thought made him think of ramen. Ramen made him think of Naruto. Naruto made him think of Konohamaru. Konohamaru had come dangerously close to having his jugular opened to the world. The urge to laugh was completely gone.

But they were fine. The children were fine. The worst injuries belonged to Iruka, he had a hole in either wrist. Tsunade had patched him up, but he had bled all over his students as they worriedly poured themselves over him back in the forest. The Hyuuga had peeled the children off him when they arrived, and Iruka had been led along with them back into Konoha, but blood loss caught up to him before they had left the trees, and he had ended up being carried to hospital by Hatake Kakashi.

He would never live that down.

When he opened the door, his stomach attempted a somersault. Kakashi was standing opposite him, leaning against the wall of the hospital corridor, one fathomless eye looking into his.

Iruka wanted to disappear through the floor. He wished that the earth would crack open and swallow him. He remembered the relief that had flooded through his veins when he had clapped eyes on the man back in the forest. The gleeful reassurance that everything would be fine. A single word of greeting from the jounin when he had burst forth from the forest floor, and Iruka could have cried with relief. It made him feel embarrassed, knowing that he had gotten them into that situation, and when the great Copy Ninja had arrived to save the day, Iruka had practically gushed like a schoolgirl.

But if Kakashi hadn't shown up at that particular moment, Iruka would have been cleaved in two. Dead as a post.

Kakashi probably thought he was pathetic. A pathetic schoolteacher who almost got himself and his class killed, and needed Kakashi to give up his afternoon to rescue them.

Iruka looked away from Kakashi and pulled the door behind him, but before the door clicked shut, Tsunade's voice rang out into the corridor.

"Is Hatake out there? Send him in here!"

Iruka left the door open and silently slid out of the doorway.

"How are your wrists," Kakashi asked as he moved past Iruka towards the door to the Hokage's office.

Iruka glanced up at Kakashi, "fine," he said. His voice sounded raspy, even to his own ears, "thank you for asking."

Kakashi's eye crinkled up into a smile, but before he could say anything else, Iruka turned and escaped down the corridor. He hadn't felt so miserable in a very long time. Kakashi probably thought he was a sorry excuse for a ninja, and Iruka's heart lurched when he thought that the Copy-nin was probably right.

Iruka meandered through the waiting room. He was tired, itchy, and miserable. But it could be worse. The students could have _died_.

Iruka didn't see Sakura until he almost walked into her. She yelped when she saw him and the worried expression on her face made Iruka cringe internally.

"Iruka-sensei!" she gasped, "I just heard what happened, are you alright?"

"Fine Sakura," Iruka gave her a half-hearted smile, "just tired."

Sakura nodded, her eyes impossibly wide as she took in his bandaged wrists, "do you want me to walk you home Iruka-sensei?"

Iruka frowned and felt his face begin to burn. Even Sakura thought he needed looking after. It was one thing to be snatched from the jaws of death by the Copy-nin. It was quite another thing entirely when a girl who was your student not so very long ago wanted to walk you home to make sure you didn't get yourself killed on the journey.

Nice of her to care, but Iruka was perfectly capable of making his own way home.

"No, thank you Sakura-chan," Iruka muttered, "I'm fine."

Sakura nodded, but her eyes were filled with so much pity that Iruka wanted to run out of the hospital and hide under his bedcovers until everyone forgot what and idiot he was.

"I'm glad everyone's okay," she said, "Konohamaru's been telling everyone about what happened," she giggled suddenly, "and I think Moegi wants to marry you, Iruka-sensei. Kakashi-sensei said you were brilliant too."

"I don't know wh…" Iruka blinked, "huh? Kakashi… what?"

Sakura frowned slightly, "he said you were brilliant, Iruka-sensei," she repeated, "he said you took out two of the enemy shinobi yourself, and you managed to keep your students calm despite everything."

Iruka swallowed. Kakashi said he was brilliant? But he hadn't been brilliant, he'd been an idiot, leading the children into that. Even though he tried to dismiss Sakura's words, a smile crept out onto his face.

"Make sure you get some rest, Iruka-sensei," Sakura said.

Iruka nodded, the goofy smile still not going away even though he tried to fight it, "I will Sakura, thank you."

Iruka turned towards the main doors of the hospital and hurried out into the clear, warm air of Konoha. He couldn't stop smiling, for some stupid reason. He felt light, almost giddy.

'_He said you were brilliant, Iruka-sensei.'_


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

He woke up to the sound of screaming. When he opened his eyes, the sunlight was lapping across the ceiling through the bedroom window, glinting in gold off the contours of the room. It took a moment of cold dread for Iruka to realise that the screams were only in his head, echoes of the dream he had just awoken from.

Nightmares were not a common occurrence for Iruka, and he was long past the point of being jerked awake in the dead of night, screaming or crying, drenched in a cold sweat. He had learnt to awaken silently from a dream, returning to full consciousness with his eyes still shut, with no discernable movement to indicate he had woken up. It wasn't often he had nightmares, or any dreams of any kind, and if he did he never remembered them. But he could still hear the fading cries of frightened children in his head.

For an instant he thought that perhaps it had all been a nightmare. The battle in the forest; the Sound shinobi; the wound across Udon's belly and the neat cut marring Konohamaru's neck. He watched the sun play across the ceiling as he lay in bed, and wondered why his wrists were hurting so much.

Then the alarm clock screamed to life, and reality crashed down over him in a painful flash of heart stopping memories. It hadn't been a nightmare, and with that realisation, Iruka slapped the alarm off and sat up in bed.

He constantly worried about his students. It was part of the job description. He taught them the correct angle to use when breaking a person's neck and how to toss dangerously sharp objects. How could he not worry when the children he spent each day with would eventually go off to kill or be killed?

He just never liked having to worry about that sort of thing while they were still in his class.

Iruka sighed loudly, hoping the sound would shake away the lingering traces of his dream, and he twisted around to place his feet on the cold wood of the floor. His wrists were still bandaged; he blinked down at them as the chill of the floor ate into his feet and chased away the grogginess of sleep. There was no need for the bandages; the Hokage had patched him back together. But the flesh was still tender and his wrists ached each time he moved his hands. Seeing the bandages there made him feel better for some reason, the same way that a child assumes a plaster or a band aid would magically cure any cuts. Iruka felt comfortable with the gauze wrapped around him, it reminded him that _his_ injuries had been the worst sustained, and he was perfectly fine.

Everyone was fine.

So his guilt was entirely uncalled for.

Iruka heaved himself from the bed and padded across the cold floor to the bathroom. It was entirely possible that he wouldn't be expected to show up for his shift at the mission room. But Tsunade hadn't given him the day off, and no one had mentioned that someone else was covering his shift. Besides, he was perfectly capable of sitting behind a desk, handing out scrolls. And if he stayed at home all day he'd go insane; he needed to get out and remind himself that all was right with the world, that his one mistake in leading his students into the mist hadn't knocked the earth off its axis and sent the planet hurtling into the sun.

And maybe he'd get to see Kakashi. Unlikely, as without a genin team the jounin never turned up at the mission room unless Tsunade was baying for his blood. But Iruka hadn't thanked him. Kakashi had saved his life, and the students' lives. Shikaku too, he should thank him as well, but it had been Kakashi who came bursting out of the ground in front of Iruka and saved him from being sliced in two. Iruka hadn't actually shown the jounin any gratitude, and that was adding to the heavy feeling of guilt resting in his stomach.

The last real conversation Iruka had had with the Copy-nin had turned into a shouting match. Well, Iruka had shouted, and Kakashi had shot Iruka down with venom laced words of ice when he said "they are no longer your students, they are my subordinates."

They hadn't actually spoken since, apart from the occasional word of greeting here and there. Iruka usually made the effort to avoid Kakashi, or at least to keep his mouth shut when in the Copy-nin's presence. Something about Kakashi made Iruka uncomfortable, and so Iruka made a point of keeping the jounin at arms length.

But he'd be dead if it wasn't for Hatake Kakashi, so a thank you was in order. And ever since Sakura mentioned what Kakashi had said about him, there was something inside Iruka that went slightly weak whenever he thought about the jounin. Had he really said that Iruka had been brilliant?

Whether or not Iruka had been brilliant was beside the point, Iruka just wanted Kakashi to think that. A vain little part of Iruka wanted the great Sharingan Kakashi to think that Iruka was more than a boring little schoolteacher. He wanted Kakashi to see him as…

Hell, he just wanted Kakashi to _see _him.

oO0Oo

Kakashi sank onto the grass beside the memorial and leant back into the stone. The sky was perfectly clear, not a cloud in sight, it was wonderfully refreshing. Each breath Kakashi took tasted of freshly cut grass and blooming flowers. It was a perfect morning in Konoha. Kakashi sighed and raised his hand to his face; he slipped his fingers beneath his hitai-ate and rubbed his eye.

"So," he said softly, to no one in particular, or perhaps to _someone_ in particular, "there's this schoolteacher. And I think I might be slightly jealous of him."

There was no reply. He never expected one, but he could hear the question that Obito would ask anyway.

"Because he might be the most popular person in Konoha," Kakashi said, "everyone adores him. I took him to hospital yesterday, he passed out from blood loss, and I was practically attacked when I entered the building. The medics were actually fighting over who would get to treat him. Whenever I'm admitted they fight over who _won't_ get to treat me."

Silence again. But Kakashi could hear Obito laughing at him anyway.

"It's not funny," he sighed, "anyway, he's a schoolteacher, he can afford to care about everybody that crosses his path. I don't have that luxury."

He dropped his hand from beneath his hitai-ate and onto his lap. If Obito were actually there, Kakashi knew that the boy would smack him upside the head and harp on about friends and self pitying bastards who need to get a life.

"All my friends are dead," Kakashi said, as though to convince Obito, or maybe himself, that he had every right to feel sorry for himself.

_Then make new ones._

Kakashi snapped his head up and looked around the clearing. He could have sworn he actually heard a voice, echoed in the back of his thoughts. A voice that sounded oddly like Obito's, but it had been so long since he had actually heard that voice that he could be mistaken. The villagers were right, he had finally gone insane.

"Make new ones?" Kakashi said softly, "they'd die too."

_So will you eventually._

Kakashi frowned; his thoughts were forming words without his consent.

"Then what's the point?" he asked himself.

_So that you'll be happy before you eventually drop dead._

"I am happy."

_No you're not._

"I'm a shinobi."

_That's not an adequate response, shithead._

"Shut up."

A bird chirped.

oO0Oo

"What are you doing here?" Genma frowned as the senbon between his lips bobbed with each word.

"I work here," Iruka answered dryly as he ducked past the orally fixated jounin.

He felt Genma's eyes follow him as he crossed the room and walked around the mission desk. The back of Iruka's neck prickled self consciously. He was fine, more than capable of sitting down all day and handing out scrolls. If Genma attempted to insinuate that Iruka wasn't up to the task, then the special jounin would end up choking on that damn toothpick.

"You were injured," Genma pointed out.

"Really?" Iruka gasped as he dropped into his seat, "I had no idea, I'm so glad I have you around to tell me these things Genma."

The senbon between Genma's teeth waved back and forth as the jounin scrutinised Iruka. Iruka stared back, unperturbed.

Iruka knew he was in trouble when Genma removed the senbon from his mouth. He braced himself for some kind of lecture about taking care of his health, a little hypocritical since Iruka could recall a time when Genma had dragged himself into work three days after having his intestines ripped out of him. Raido practically had to fling Genma over his shoulder and carry him back to hospital since the idiot was under the impression that being gutted like a fish was not an appropriate reason to filch off work. Funny how Genma would try to get out of doing any work when he was healthy, but became a workaholic when on death's door.

But Iruka was spared the telling off when the door to the mission room slid open, and Hyuuga Hiashi marched into the room, followed by his youngest daughter.

"Hyuuga-sama," Iruka smiled, "how can we help you?"

"I need to speak with the Hokage," Hiashi replied solemnly.

Genma slid the senbon back into his mouth, "Hokage-sama is extremely busy at the moment, perhaps we could…"

"It's important," Hiashi interrupted curtly before striding past Genma and knocking hard on the door to the Hokage's office.

Iruka smiled down at Hanabi over the desk, "hello Hanabi."

"Iruka-sensei," the girl inclined her head, looking as serious as ever. One day he would figure out how to get that girl to smile, even if it killed him.

The door to Tsunade's office swung open, and Shizune peered up at the scowling features of the head of the Hyuuga clan.

"Yes?" Shizune said, not in the least intimidated by the forbidding man since she had spent the majority of her life running around after Tsunade, who was far more intimidating when she was in a bad mood.

"I need to speak to the Hokage," Hiashi replied, before brushing past her and storming into the office, "Hanabi," he called over his shoulder, and the girl hurried after her father before Shizune could object or close the door.

When the door clicked shut and Iruka and Genma were left alone yet again, the senbon sucking jounin turned back to Iruka and frowned.

"Shouldn't you be resting?"

Iruka scowled at him. He _had_ been resting, he had slept all night and now he was fine.

"Shouldn't you be working?" Iruka countered as he began rifling through the scrolls on the desk before him.

Genma crossed the room and loomed over Iruka from the opposite side of the desk. Iruka ignored him, busying himself with sorting the scrolls into piles.

"Don't come crawling to me if you faint again," Genma drawled.

Iruka made a faint squawking sound as he looked up at the jounin, "I didn't faint!" he cried, "I passed out! From blood loss!"

"Yeah," Genma nodded, "you fainted. On Kakashi."

Something in Iruka's stomach did a little twirl at the mention of Kakashi, "I didn't faint! In case you have forgotten, I was stabbed."

Genma leant over the desk, triumph glinting in his eyes, "exactly. You should be resting."

Iruka glared at him; how hard would it be to just ram that senbon down his throat? "I'm fine," he bit out.

Genma's hands whipped out over the desk, and before Iruka could react, his wrists were being held firmly within Genma's fingers, and the bastard was _squeezing_.

"Ah!" Iruka yanked his wrists free, sharp lances of pain were shooting up his arms, "what the fuck is wrong with you?"

"You aren't fine," Genma replied coolly, "go home. Come back when you're fixed."

"I am fixed!" Iruka yelled. His wrists were stinging, the tender flesh that had only recently been knitted back together was throbbing hotly, and Iruka wanted nothing more than to use that senbon to cut Genma's heart out.

The door to Tsunade's office banged open loudly, jerking the attention of the two shinobi in the mission room to the face of the Hokage, who was standing in the doorway with a look of thunder on her deceptively young face.

"Someone find me Hatake!" she commanded, before slamming the door again, causing the wood to rattle in its frame.

Excited little butterflies began trying to escape Iruka's stomach. The Hokage wanted to see Kakashi, so Iruka would come face to face with him for the first time since the fiasco in the forest, the first time since seeing Kakashi in the hospital after being carried there by the jounin. Iruka felt his face grow hotter, and he felt slightly ashamed of the way his chest tightened at the thought of actually speaking to Kakashi.

"I'll go," Genma said suddenly, snapping Iruka back into the present, "you just sit there, don't go doing anything strenuous."

Iruka stood up so quickly that the chair clattered to the floor behind him.

"I'll go!" he said firmly as he walked around the desk and crossed the room, "_you_ just sit there and don't do anything strenuous."

Genma raised an eyebrow as the chuunin marched out of the room. Iruka sucked in a few deep breaths as he hurried through the corridors; there didn't seem to be any need for his heart to skip within his chest, but he was slightly anxious of what Kakashi would say to him, or of what he should say to Kakashi.

"_Hey, Kakashi-sensei, thanks for saving my life."_

"_If you were half the shinobi you should be, I wouldn't have needed to. And don't ever faint on me again."_

Iruka swallowed his nerves and stepped out of the administration building and into the bright, early morning sunshine. Then he remembered that he had no idea where Kakashi lived.

Cursing under his breath, Iruka whirled around and ran back to the mission room to ask Genma where he was supposed to be going.

oO0Oo

Despite the morning sunshine, deep within the forest was washed in gloom. The shadows seemed to groan under the weight of all the years the trees had been standing. Now and then a bird would cry out, or a gust of wind would hiss through the leaves, but Shinichi sat quietly one of the branches of an ancient sycamore and slowly pulled apart the leaves that twirled to the ground all around him.

He had spent the night staring through the darkness, in the direction of Konoha, snapping twigs and ripping leaves along their veins. His hands had long since stopped shaking. He had wrapped himself up in the rage he had felt racing through him and pushed the panic he had felt at seeing the Copy-nin deep inside him, until there was nothing but a poisonous knot growing tighter and tighter in the pit of his soul.

He hated Sharingan Kakashi, more than he had ever hated another living soul. Shinichi had thought that he hated Zabuza, for the betrayal that broke his heart, but the anger he had stored up for Zabuza had been fuelled and stoked and twisted towards Hatake.

Shinichi would never get the chance to confront his brother. He'd never get the chance to look into Zabuza's eyes and see if maybe there was a shadow of remorse there. He'd never know if Zabuza still loved him, despite everything. The revenge Shinichi had set as his goal was gone, and it was all Kakashi's fault. How dare Zabuza die at that man's hands? How dare Kakashi kill Zabuza? Ever since Shinichi was a child he had believed with very fibre of his being that Zabuza was all powerful. The foolish admiration of a boy for his brother, but Zabuza had always been so strong, and he had taken care of Shinichi when there was no one else who cared. All of his life Shinichi had looked up to Zabuza, placing him on a pedestal high above everyone else. No one else could ever come close to his brother. And then Sharingan Kakashi had come along and Shinichi's view of Zabuza had been crushed to dust.

But the thing that was really burning within Shinichi, the fact that ate at his heart and threatened to swallow him, was that he had spent to many years training to be as great as his brother, to become as strong as Zabuza. But none of that mattered anymore, because what he really needed was to be as strong as the Copy-nin. All those years of sweat and blood to defeat Zabuza meant nothing because Kakashi had beaten him to it, and there was no way Shinichi could hope to harm the Copy-nin in any physical sense. If he wanted to hurt Kakashi, he'd have to be a little more cunning about it. He didn't need to kill Kakashi to defeat him. He just needed to harm him where he was weakest. He needed to find out where that weak point was.

Shinichi dropped the tattered remains of the leaf he had been shredding and rose to his feet. The sun was above the horizon now, the birds were welcoming in the new day, and Shinichi had all the time in the world to put his plan into action.

But first, he had to get into Konoha.

oO0Oo

Now, Iruka had a fair idea of how much Kakashi earned. He handed out the mission scrolls so he more or less knew how many missions Kakashi went on. Then there was the fact that Kakashi vanished on unclassified missions from time to time by order of the Hokage, and there were rumours of a vast fortune left to him as the last of the Hatakes. So it was safe to assume that Kakashi could afford to live in something akin to a palace.

Iruka frowned at the door that gave entrance to the apartment Kakashi resided in. It was definitely not a palace. It was in a simple apartment block, filled with tiny one roomed apartments. Iruka had never given much thought to where Kakashi lived before, but somehow he had never imagined the great Copy-nin living in such a small, simple place.

Iruka's own home was hardly something to brag about. Sure, it was a house rather than an apartment, but only in the most basic of terms. There was only one bedroom, but there was a separate kitchen and living area, there was a reasonably sized bathroom. If he could afford something like that on his limited wages, surely Kakashi could afford something a little more extravagant than the tiny apartment Iruka found himself standing outside of.

Iruka knocked again. Maybe Kakashi wasn't at home. But if he wasn't there then Iruka had no idea where to look for him. Everyone else in the village had regular haunts. If you needed to find Iruka you'd look in his house, in the Academy, in the administration building, at Ichiraku. If you were looking for Sakura you looked in the hospital, in Hokage Tower, at her house, at the training grounds or the tea house near the public park. But Hatake Kakashi was a complete enigma. He didn't have regular haunts; he billowed throughout the village like a breeze. Trying to keep him in one place was like trying to pin a wave to the shore, it couldn't be done.

Iruka kicked the door in frustration and turned on his heels. Part of him felt loose with relief knowing that Kakashi wasn't there, and he had a perfect excuse not to talk to him. Another part of him was bitter with disappointment.

Iruka pushed through the main entrance of the apartment building and out onto the sun washed streets. The early quiet had been replaced by the calm bustle of villagers going about their day. The market opposite Kakashi's apartment was softly buzzing as the stalls opened. Iruka stepped out into the street and nibbled his bottom lip. Where would he be, if he was a crazy, genius, perverted jounin?

"Iruka-sensei!"

Iruka fell out of his musings at the sound of his name, and turned to see who had called him, although he didn't need to see Gai to know it was he who had yelled for him, Gai's booming bass was instantly recognisable.

"Iruka-sensei!" Gai beamed as he slowed his pace until he was jogging on the spot beside Iruka. It seemed he was out for a morning run, but he looked as fresh and lively as he ever did, "it is good to see you up and about! Your youthful vitality is an example to those of us who strive to overcome our physical limitations!"

"Um…" Iruka smiled back a little sheepishly, not entirely sure what Gai had just said to him, "good morning Gai-sensei."

Gai's heavy brows narrowed together slightly as he peered over Iruka's shoulder at the building he had just exited, his knees continually pistoning up and down with his static movement.

"I did not realise you knew anyone in this part of the village, Iruka-sensei," Gai said finally, grinning again and sparkling for all he was worth.

"Oh, I don't" Iruka replied, "not really, I was just looking for Kakashi-sensei."

"Ah," Gai nodded, "I see. But you won't find him at home at this time of the day Iruka-sensei."

"No, I know, he…" Iruka frowned, "do you happen to know where he is?"

Gai pondered the chuunin for a moment, looking a tad too serious for the Gai that Iruka was used to, "I believe I do," he replied, "but Kakashi values his privacy in the mornings, so…"

"But the Hokage wants to see him," Iruka replied quickly before the spandex-clad jounin could speed off.

Gai's serious expression dissolved, and the sparkling began again, "well in that case Iruka-sensei," he grinned, "you'll find him at the memorial. He spends his mornings there."

"Oh," Iruka replied, slightly taken aback by this piece of information, "thank you Gai-sensei."

Gai nodded, "anything for Konoha's most illustrious and courageous sensei!"

Iruka watched Gai speed away, a blur of green amidst the milling villagers. Did Gai mean to say that Kakashi spent _every_ morning at the memorial? That just didn't seem to fit with the lazy, lackadaisical jounin who sauntered everywhere without a care in the world. Kakashi didn't seem the type to go to the stone every day to pay tribute to the dead, every day was a little bit of an obsession.

But such devotion spoke of catastrophic loss, and Iruka found himself hoping that he wouldn't find Kakashi where Gai said he would be. It was hard to imagine that the crazy jounin could feel the kind of grief that pulled him to the memorial each day. Iruka hadn't even visited the stone that often immediately after his parents died. What sort of pain called someone to visit their losses each and every day?

Iruka walked quickly in the direction of the memorial. He hadn't been there in a while, he hadn't felt the need. It was just a stone with names carved into it; he didn't need a slab of rock to remind him of the people he had lost. He hurried along the path and over the bridge until the memorial was in sight, and he actually sighed when he found the clearing empty. The dark stone was settled in the centre of the grass; there was no one there.

The relief drained away when he remembered that he was meant to be finding Kakashi. He was glad that the jounin really didn't come to visit his ghosts every day, that couldn't be healthy, but he still needed to find him and take him back to the Hokage, now he was back at square one.

He was about to turn around and head back into the village when a presence on the edge of his senses made him pause. There _was_ someone else at the memorial; he could pick up a faint breath of tightly controlled chakra from the centre of the clearing.

When he looked closer he could see the dark fabric covering someone's arm jutting out from behind the memorial. Someone was sitting on the grass on the other side of the stone, hidden from view.

It would be slightly embarrassing if Iruka went over there and interrupted someone other than Kakashi. But as Iruka stepped closer to the stone, he knew that the person sitting there was the person he was looking for. He could feel it in the way his skin erupted in goose bumps.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Iruka called softly, without circling the stone. It seemed like it would be more of an intrusion if he actually went around to look at the jounin. This way seemed more sensitive, it left Kakashi a sliver of privacy at least, and Gai had said that Kakashi like to be alone during the mornings.

"Yes, Iruka-sensei?" Kakashi replied. His voice was soft, and sounded like the quiet purr of a wild animal to Iruka. It went straight through him and set his hair on end, and the fact that Iruka couldn't actually see Kakashi speaking from his place behind the stone gave the sound a slight ethereal quality. As though he were hearing words that he didn't deserve to be listening to.

Or maybe it was just the fact that they were in a field of ghosts and fallen comrades. The sorrow drenching the air was having an adverse affect on Iruka's sanity.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," Iruka said quietly, because he was really sorry to intrude on another's grief, "but the Hokage wishes to see you."

Kakashi was silent for a few moments, and Iruka reigned in the desire to shuffle his feet. He couldn't shake the feeling that he wasn't welcome.

"Did the old woman say what she wanted?" Kakashi asked suddenly, but there was a hint of teasing in his voice and Iruka suddenly felt a little more at ease.

"No," he replied, "but she didn't seem very happy."

"Ah," Kakashi sighed as he shifted his weight to get up from the ground, "I wonder what I did this time."

Iruka closed the gap between himself and the jounin in three quick strides, and held his hand out to help Kakashi to his feet. The Copy-nin looked up at him for an instant, with a question in his single eye. For a brief second, Kakashi looked so very young, sitting at Iruka's feet, blinking up at him. It made Iruka's breath catch.

Kakashi took Iruka's offered hand and let the chuunin heave him to his feet. The weight pulled painfully on the sore flesh beneath the bandages around Iruka's wrist. While Iruka squashed the wince that threatened to overtake his face, he didn't quite remember not to rub his wrist once Kakashi had released his hand.

"Sorry," Kakashi said suddenly. When Iruka looked he noticed that the jounin was watching Iruka's hand as he passed it over his throbbing flesh.

"It's nothing," Iruka smiled as he dropped his hands to rest at his sides, "I'm fine."

Kakashi nodded and stuffed his hands into his pockets, "they still hurt though." It wasn't a question.

"Yes," Iruka admitted, "but it's nothing I can't handle."

Kakashi nodded again, and his visible eye arched cheerfully, "well, no point in putting off the inevitable. You'll make sure I get a decent send off when the old lady's done with me, won't you?"

"What?" Iruka smiled, and the sombre air of the clearing lifted slightly, "I'm sure you'll be fine. Unless you've done something to upset Hyuuga Hiashi."

"Hmm?" Kakashi fell into step beside Iruka as they strolled back across the field, "what does that old sourpuss have to do with it?"

"Kakashi-sensei," Iruka frowned, "Hyuuga-sama is with the Hokage now, and you can't call him that."

"Why?" Kakashi asked innocently, "he _is_ a sourpuss."

"Well," Iruka fought the urge to smile, "yes… but you wouldn't say that to his face." Iruka would rather pull his toenails out with a pair of pliers than say anything like that to the humourless man in person, it would probably hurt less.

"Hm?" Kakashi's eye arched again as they meandered onto the path that led back into the heart of the village, "but I _have_ said that to his face Iruka-sensei," there was a chuckle somewhere in Kakashi's voice.

"What?" Iruka goggled at him, "you're lying!"

Kakashi halted and placed his hand over his heart, his dark eye wide with shock, "I would never!" he gasped, "ask him if you don't believe me, I spent the next day wading through a swamp for insulting him, so I wouldn't lie."

Iruka blinked in surprise at the idea of Hatake Kakashi wading through a swamp for insulting Hyuuga Hiashi, and the image just did not work in his mind.

"I was only eleven years old at the time though," Kakashi smiled as he started walking again, "Hiashi told my sensei what a disrespectful little brat I'd been, so I ended up scouring a swamp for the Daimyo's wife's missing necklace. A grave injustice if you ask me."

"Oh most certainly," Iruka replied with mock sincerity as he trailed along beside Kakashi. It struck him that this was the first real conversation he and Kakashi had had, with no yelling involved. Iruka had forgotten why he usually felt uncomfortable around the jounin, maybe it was a lack of effort on Iruka's part, but Kakashi didn't seem to be all that bad. But the fact that Kakashi came to the memorial every day was plaguing Iruka, it wasn't healthy to wallow in your loss like that, surely Gai had been exaggerating.

"Um, Kakashi-sensei?" Iruka said, "do you visit the memorial _every_ morning?"

Kakashi turned to look at Iruka, one heavy lidded eye drilling into his. The atmosphere suddenly became a little stifled as they continued to wander into the village, and under Kakashi's gaze Iruka felt decidedly naked, as though Kakashi could look right through him.

"Mmm," came Kakashi's reply before he looked back to the path ahead of them. It was obvious that this was not a subject Iruka was permitted to inquire about, and the silence that followed was uncomfortably chilled. This wasn't how Iruka imagined the conversation going, so he groped for something else to say, something to bring back the cheerful, joking Kakashi he had been talking to moments earlier.

"Err, Kakashi-sensei, I meant to thank you," Iruka smiled warmly, "for yesterday."

Kakashi looked back at him as they reached the road that led through Konoha, passing street vendors and dainty houses that stretched towards the public park.

"Well, that Sound-nin would have killed me, and then taken the students if you hadn't shown up when you did," Iruka said nervously, the urge to fidget coming back, "so um, thank you."

"Maa, you seemed to be doing fine before I got there," Kakashi said as his eye crinkled happily, "it's a good thing you were there, Iruka-sensei, I don't think your students would have stayed put without you there to keep them from panicking."

"I didn't really do anything though," Iruka said, "I just watched you and Nara-san rescue us."

Something in Kakashi's eye hardened slightly before he replied, "and if the students had been there alone they wouldn't have stood their and waited for us to rescue them? You kept them calm, Shikaku and I could hardly give them our full attention, we were otherwise occupied if you recall."

"Yes, but…" Iruka frowned, "I was the one who…"

"Trusted the wrong people," Kakashi said with an air of finality, "yes I know, we all make mistakes. Those of us who are wise won't repeat them."

Iruka really had nothing to say to that. Kakashi looked back at the street in front of them, and Iruka decided to do the same. He was right, really, if the students had been lured out there alone they would have panicked and gone racing off in all different directions. Any sort of rescue would have been a mess. Iruka would never think of himself as wise, but he was adamant that he would never make a mistake like that again. Next time he'd trust his instincts rather than a trio of unfamiliar chuunin.

"Oh, and sensei," Kakashi purred softly, and Iruka didn't have to look to hear the smile in his voice, "you have a great right hook."

Iruka frowned. Then he remembered the punch he had delivered to that kunoichi, who had thoroughly deserved it in his opinion, and he felt his face begin to heat up.

Kakashi chuckled quietly beside him, and Iruka cursed himself for blushing so damn easily.

"Good morning, Iruka-sensei."

Iruka smiled at the owner of the vegetable stall on the corner of the street and waved cheerfully, her son had been in his class the previous year, and she was terrible for giving him free vegetables whenever he passed by.

Iruka looked back at Kakashi, but the cheerful mood that had settled on them seemed to have vanished. Kakashi looked a little more contemplative, or so Iruka thought, it was hard to tell with three quarters of the man's face covered. Iruka almost wanted to ask him why he covered his face, but he was sure to be fobbed of with some excuse, and Iruka wasn't entirely sure how such a question would be taken. He didn't want to bring on the uncomfortable aura that his previous question had, so he remained silent as they turned the corner and the administration building came into sight.

"Hello Iruka-sensei!" Iashi, one of the medic-nin waved as they passed. Iruka smiled across the street at him, but he didn't miss the way Kakashi's brow furrowed slightly, and his eyes remained firmly fixed on the ground a few feet ahead of them.

"Are you alright Kakashi-sensei?" Iruka asked as they entered the administration building.

Kakashi's eye arched again, but it seemed a little forced, "I'm fine, Iruka-sensei."

Fine. A perfect imitation of what Iruka had been telling himself and everyone else all day. Iruka's wrists twinged.

"Genma?" Iruka blurted when he and Kakashi walked into the mission room, "what are you doing?"

Genma sprang away from the door to the Hokage's office as though he had been burned. He looked around the room shiftily, "nothing."

"You were eavesdropping," Iruka chided.

Genma merely pointed to himself with a look of faint outrage on his face. Kakashi walked straight past him and opened the door, not even bothering to knock.

"Get in here brat!" Tsunade's voice rang out through the door, and Kakashi pulled the door shut behind him.

Iruka pouted at the closed door. It had been nice talking to Kakashi. He wasn't the aloof, arrogant nutcase that Iruka had thought he was. But he'd probably never get the opportunity to talk to him again, apart from the brief exchanges made over the mission desk. Iruka found himself feeling rather disappointed.

"Inuzuka Tsume's in there," Genma piped up, "Shizune went to fetch her while you were looking for Kakashi. I caught the tail end of the conversation when Shizune left the room. Apparently they didn't apprehend all of the shinobi out in the forest yesterday. One of them got away, Hanabi saw him hiding in the trees."

"What?" Iruka cried, "what do you mean?"

Genma shrugged, "that's what I heard. He sneaked away before anyone other than Hanabi saw him."

That wasn't possible. Iruka had been there, surely he would have noticed if there was someone up in the trees. But the mist had been thicker around the branches, maybe they'd missed someone. Why hadn't Hanabi mentioned this earlier? If one of those shinobi was still out there then they might try again. They might have another go at kidnapping some of Konoha's children and snatching them away to Hidden Sound.

Iruka's chest tightened when he realised that the danger wasn't over. Someone was still out there, waiting for an opportunity to strike at the village children.

"You alright?" Genma asked, "you look a little ill."

"I'm fine," he replied.

oO0Oo

Hanabi had come to the conclusion that adults never listen to children. At least not until it's too late.

When the jounin of her family had arrived in the forest to take them back into the village, they had questioned Hanabi and her classmates about what had happened, and Hanabi had informed them, quite clearly, that there had been seven shinobi in the forest. Seven people other than herself, her class, and her teacher. When they didn't question her about it further, she had simply assumed that they knew about the man hiding in the trees. They were Hyuuga too after all, and their Byakugan had a much wider range than her's due to their experience. She had assumed that they had seen him.

At breakfast that morning however, she had heard her father mention that all the shinobi involved had been apprehended. When she had contradicted him, chaos ensued.

Her father had taken her straight to see the Hokage. None of this would be a problem if adults would just listen to what their children have to say. It seemed that the jounin who questioned her hadn't known about the man hidden in the trees after all, they had just assumed that she couldn't count.

Kakashi-sensei was the last to walk into the Hokage's office. He looked around the room, at the Hokage who was sitting behind her desk, at Hanabi's father who was stood perfectly straight at Hanabi's side, then at Inuzuka-san and the monstrous black dog she had with her. It had an eye patch over one eye, it reminded Hanabi a little of Kakashi-sensei.

Kakashi-sensei leant into the wall, with his hands in his pockets and his shoulders drooped. If Hanabi had walked in like that then she would have been in trouble for being disrespectful, but Kakashi-sensei was powerful, wasn't he, so Hanabi assumed that the more powerful you were, the more disrespectful you were allowed to be. After all, her father had just walked into the Hokage's office without an invitation.

"What's going on?" Kakashi sighed.

"Hanabi claims that she saw a seventh shinobi in the Nara clan forest yesterday," the Hokage said sternly, "Hanabi, could you repeat what you've told us already."

Hanabi sighed and consciously did not roll her eyes. Adults didn't listen, but when they did you had to repeat yourself a million times so that they understood. And they patronise _children_.

"There was another shinobi in the branches," she said once again, "he was just watching us. He left right before that woman jumped out of the trees and landed on Iruka-sensei."

"Mmm," Kakashi hummed as he watched her, "how do you know he was a shinobi?"

"He wasn't wearing a hitai-ate or anything, if that's what you mean," Hanabi replied, "but his chakra was in the mist, I could see it, I assumed it was a jutsu or something."

Kakashi simply nodded, and Hanabi blinked in surprise. All of the others had seemed shocked that she had been able to tell the mist was a jutsu, and it was fast becoming irritating. She was a Hyuuga after all, she wouldn't be much of one if she couldn't see someone's chakra. But Kakashi-sensei didn't look shocked at all, as though he expected Hanabi to be able to see something like that. It was sort of reassuring that not all of the adults thought that youth equalled stupidity.

"You didn't notice another shinobi there?" the Hokage asked Kakashi.

"I think I would have mentioned it if I did," Kakashi replied.

"Right," the Hokage stood, "brat, I want you and Tsume to find this shinobi, I want to know if he's still out there, I want him caught, got it."

It took Hanabi a second to realise that the Hokage meant Kakashi-sensei when she said 'brat'; Hanabi smiled ever so slightly and decided that she liked Kakashi-sensei, just a little.

"We don't know what his allegiance is," Kakashi replied, "he might not have had anything to do with what happened in the forest."

"I don't care," the Hokage replied, "I want you to find him, take your mutts and pull the whole forest apart if you have to. Tsume, take a few more members of your clan, I don't want an enemy shinobi skulking around our forests."

Kakashi-sensei pushed himself off the wall and spun around towards the door, "as you wish, Hokage-sama."

Hanabi followed her father out of the office. Not all adults were that bad after all, Kakashi-sensei seemed alright, and Iruka-sensei was far better than most. She waved to her teacher as she left the mission room, but the smile he gave in return seemed a little strained.

"Umino!" Hanabi twisted her head around to see the Hokage storm out of her office and glare up at Iruka-sensei, "what are you doing here?"

"I…"

"Go home," she snapped, "now."

Iruka-sensei looked a little annoyed. The other shinobi, with the toothpick in his mouth, looked like he was about to break a rib in an effort not to laugh. Hanabi watched Iruka-sensei scowl at the other man, before she stepped through the door and left them behind.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Kakashi crouched in the shade of the sycamore tree, his elbows resting lightly on his knees as he pondered the tattered remains of the torn leaves that littered the tree's roots. Pakkun was circling the vast trunk with his nose to the dirt. There were no footprints, their target hadn't traversed the forest floor, he'd moved through the branches.

Kakashi raised his head and looked up towards the branch that reached out directly above the ripped, scattered leaves. The muscles of his legs bunched together before he thrust upwards and leapt to the thick branch, landing softly upon the moss covered wood.

The leaves and twigs that shrouded the branch were bent and snapped. Someone had sat there, for quite a while, fingering the leaves and pulling them apart, before letting them fall to the ground below. The downy moss that clung to the bark had been disturbed.

"The scent's stronger here," Pakkun rasped once he had joined Kakashi on the branch.

"Which way?" Kakashi asked.

The pug wandered around the jounin, prodding the moss with his squashed face.

"This way," the nin-dog called gruffly, before he pushed off the branch and flew across to the stretching arm of a nearby oak, heading in the direction of Konoha.

Kakashi turned to follow the dog, when a deep sound vibrated through the forest.

One of his dogs was howling.

oO0Oo

Shinichi paused at the narrow river that cut across his path towards Konoha. The shush of flowing water drowned out the twitter of the birds and the hiss of the wind. The sight of the clear liquid, glistening in the sun, made his skin crawl with ingrained dirt from a night sitting beneath the stars.

He sighed deeply, breathing in the clear air and clean water, and knelt at the river's edge to scoop some of the cool water into his cupped hands so that he could splash his face.

He needed a shower. He wanted nothing more than to strip down and sink beneath the surface of the rushing water, to wash away the stale sweat and crusted dirt from his skin. But his heart began to flutter with each lingered moment, and he became acutely aware of the fact that he was in enemy territory, and that he couldn't risk hanging around just to take a bath.

He settled for wringing his hands beneath the water's current and wiping his dripping hands over his face and through his dark hair. Even that small speck of attention invigorated him slightly, and he sucked in another deep breath before he opened his eyes, droplets of water falling from his eyelashes.

There was a dog on the other side of the river.

Shinichi blinked the water away quickly and held his breath.

That had to be the _biggest_ dog Shinichi had ever clapped eyes on. It was a mammoth, brown bull dog, with quivering jowls and heavy lidded, drooping eyes. There was a thick collar strapped around its massive neck, with silver spikes jutting outwards from the leather. Shinichi wasn't fond of dogs, he was more of a cat person. But the Leaf hitai-ate tied around the animals front leg set Shinichi's teeth on edge. He wouldn't have felt the need to flee so strongly, if it wasn't for the fact that he had seen that dog only the previous day.

It was one of the Copy-nin's summons.

The dog raised its huge, sombre head, peeled its heavy lips back across its teeth, and let out a howl that ripped a layer of skin from Shinichi's ears.

Shinichi's heart clenched. If that wasn't a call for reinforcements, he didn't know what was. Shinichi would bet his right arm that Sharingan Kakashi had heard that, and was on his way, bearing down on Shinichi's position with each moment Shinichi lingered.

When the dog lowered its head, and pinned Shinichi with its deep set gaze, Shinichi snapped. That dog had been there when his brother died. The teeth marks that Shinichi had seen puncturing the flesh of Zabuza's neck and shoulder, they belonged to this beast watching him.

He didn't have time to actually gut the dog, and he had no desire to still be locked in a staring contest with the animal when its master arrived, but he couldn't let the animal live and follow him either.

"Come on then," Shinichi cooed softly, "come over here."

He rose slowly to his feet, straightening out and keeping his eyes firmly on the dog across the water from him. He took a small step backwards, and as though mirroring his movements, the dog moved one wide paw forwards, placing the pad onto the surface of the water.

Shinichi smiled and took another small step backwards. Again the dog followed him, placing another paw onto the water, using its chakra to walk across the surface of the river.

Shinichi didn't have any summons of his own, but if they had such impressive chakra control, maybe he should think about acquiring some. Definitely not dogs though, cats maybe.

Another step, and another, and the animal was standing on the water, four great paws floating on the surface. Shinichi gave the animal a tooth filled grin, and lurched forwards, throwing himself towards the river and slapping his palms to the water.

For such colossal dog, it made a surprisingly high pitched yelp when watery fingers tickled upwards from the river's surface and clamped down over the dogs paws.

Shinichi poured his chakra into the water, skimming across the surface towards the canine. The fingers holding the animal in place began to pull, dragging the dog downwards until it was thrashing and panicking as it was submerged.

The dog was barking as it sank lower, high and panicked and keening. The sound would have torn into Shinichi at one time, but now it spread a satisfied warmth through his body. When the water reached the creature's face it squeezed out a pitched whine, frantic and frightened and utterly animalistic, until the water was completely covering the dog.

Shinichi snapped his head up, tearing his eyes away from the writhing animal beneath the river water. Sounds of barking were emanating from all around him, cracking through the air in all directions. The barks were getting louder and closer. He'd lingered long enough.

Shinichi sent a surge of chakra across the water, a barrier of energy over the surface of the river, before he lifted his hands from the river and stood up. The barrier wouldn't remain for long, he hadn't fed it enough, but it would linger long enough to drown that animal.

As the barking of numerous dogs grew louder, Shinichi rushed his fingers through a myriad of seals. He knew now that they were tracking him. The Copy-nin's dogs were following his scent, searching for him. He just had to eradicate his scent, cut them off from him.

The sun dimmed; the azure of the sky grew heavy and dull. Clouds uncurled in the sky from nothing as Shinichi went through the seals for the first half of the jutsu that the Mizukage had taught him. He wouldn't use the entire jutsu, he didn't need to. That jutsu was a last resort, it ate away at his chakra until he was left as weak as a kitten. But the first half would benefit him for now.

When the sky was thick with deep grey clouds, Shinichi stepped onto the river and ran. As his legs pumped him further and further downstream the heavens ripped open, the water all around him was pummelled with raindrops, the air became heavy with water.

It looked like he'd get that shower after all.

oO0Oo

Kakashi slapped the leaves out of his path, and vaulted a bush blocking the way, before he skidded to a halt at the side of the river. Minutes ago the sky had been clear and dazzlingly blue, but now everything was a miserable grey. The rain that had so abruptly fallen was gushing down over him, heavy and fast and unrelenting. It flooded over the soil, slicking the ground beneath his feet and obscuring his vision.

Konoha wasn't know for its monsoons, what the hell was going on?

Kakashi blinked through the water, frowning across the river, expecting to see Bull, since he had heard the huge dog's howl coming from somewhere nearby. But there was nothing and no one there.

"Kakashi!"

Kakashi watched Pakkun race to the water's edge, his tiny legs blurred beneath him as he slipped over the loosened mud. When Kakashi saw Pakkun head towards the water, he noticed something dark beneath the surface of the river.

"What…" everything in his body suddenly became heavy. That was his dog under the water.

Kakashi skidded to his knees at the riverside just as Inuzuka Tsume burst forth through the bushes, with Kuromaru growling at her heels.

"What happened?" he heard her ask. But he didn't answer, because there was a foreign chakra skimming over the surface of the water, and his dog was under there, looking up at him with wide, panic filled eyes as it tried desperately to break the surface.

"Kakashi!" Pakkun yelled, "do something!"

Kakashi pressed his palms to the water, but he couldn't submerge them. The chakra blocking his hands was waning, it would be spent soon, but not soon enough. It was as though there was a layer of ice sitting over the river, he couldn't get his hands through it.

Tsume's hands were with his suddenly, scratching at the water, trying to get at the dog only inches from their hands. Bull's movements started to become sluggish; the rest of Kakashi's nin-dogs emerged from the foliage, and a hard little ball of dread had erupted inside Kakashi's chest.

His dog was going to die.

"We have to absorb this chakra," Tsume said, but her voice sounded very far away, it echoed in Kakashi's head as a million solutions raced through his mind and were summarily dismissed. He couldn't just watch his dog die, not when he was right there, looking at him, so close.

"Move!" Kakashi lifted his hands away from the water, and Tsume stepped back at the command.

Kakashi gathered chakra into his palms. Birds chirped, but not the song of a thousand birds, more like the twittering of two or three. Small flickers of blue chakra sizzled in Kakashi's palms. There was no time to absorb the strange chakra, so he'd have to crash through it. But if he used too much power, he'd thrust straight through Bull too.

"Kakashi!" Pakkun scratched at Kakashi's thigh. Kakashi gritted his teeth and slammed his hands down over the water, through the barrier of chakra and into the chilled flow of the river.

His fingers gripped Bull's collar, and Kakashi dug his heels into the slippery mud as he heaved backwards and pulled the massive dog out of the water and out onto the side of the river.

All of the air was knocked out of him when Bull collapsed on top of him. His fingers were still gripping the collar around his dog's neck, his arms were aching with the weight he had just wrenched free of the water, but Bull was breathing heavily and sprawled quite contentedly over Kakashi's decidedly smaller frame.

Kakashi heard Tsume breath a sigh of relief as the rest of the dogs surged forwards and threw themselves against the massive dog heaving atop Kakashi.

"Oof!" Kakashi winced, "I think you need to lose a little weight." But he had never felt so happy to be getting crushed before. His insides felt weightless with relief.

Bull replied by lolling his tongue out of his mouth and passing it firmly and wetly over Kakashi's mask covered face.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Pakkun barked at the huge dog, "you were supposed to wait for the rest of us! Look what happens when you try playing the hero!"

Bull just blinked at the pug, and then went back to licking Kakashi.

oO0Oo

Iruka frowned through the glass of his kitchen window, and pursed his lips at the torrential downpour that had taken Konoha by surprise so suddenly. He could hardly even see through the window, the glass was washed in a sheet of water and everything was blanketed by grey. Iruka was beginning to feel mildly claustrophobic.

He felt trapped. He was two steps away from climbing the walls. Somewhere out there, in the pouring rain, was a shinobi who wanted to kidnap his students. And he was trapped inside his own house, unable to do anything about it.

Of course, he knew it was silly of him to think that _he,_ of all people, could do anything about it at all. Kakashi and the Inuzukas were out there searching for the enemy, they'd do a far better job of finding and apprehending the shinobi than Iruka would. But the schoolteacher was filled with impatient, nervous energy. He wanted to know what was happening. Had they found him yet? Were they locked in some sort of battle out in the forest at that very moment?

Iruka turned away from the window and flicked the light switch. The kitchen was illuminated by the yellowish light of the bulb hanging above his head, and even that made him feel fenced in. Everything was dull and gloomy and overcast. The only sounds were the roar of the rain battering the walls of his house, and the faint hum of his refrigerator.

He padded through the kitchen and paced around the small dining table standing in the heart of the main room. His house was too small. On rainy days, when he was confined inside, he felt the room shrink. He only ever felt penned in when it rained, and it was certainly raining, with a vengeance.

But then he thought about Kakashi's home. One single room. And he felt slightly ashamed with himself. He had a house, with more than enough room for only himself. What right did he have to feel frustrated with the size of his home when Kakashi lived in a closet?

But Kakashi _chose_ to live in a closet. And outside was oppressively grey, inside was garishly yellow under the lights, and Iruka was filled with nervous energy but without any space to release his pent up frustration. With an irritated groan he marched back into the kitchen and peered back out of the window. The rain seemed like it was trying to dig a crater into the ground, there hadn't been any rain clouds earlier.

Iruka narrowed his gaze and squinted through the water towards the dark smudge that was moving slowly through the rain washed streets.

Iruka rubbed his forearm over the glass, in a futile attempt to clear his vision of the relentless water. The smudge that was walking through the rain was hunched over, a blot of black amidst the overbearing grey. The water continued to blast away at the rooftops, and Iruka suddenly recognised the stooped frame of the person plodding through the puddles.

He darted to the front door and wrenched it open.

"Kakashi-sensei!"

The drenched figure of Kakashi halted out in the street, and tipped his head up to peer at Iruka through the rain. He looked a little pathetic, but more than a little adorable, with his hair hanging heavy with rain and his shoulders hunched to protect him from the wind. Iruka wanted nothing more than to drag him inside, wrap him up in warm blankets and feed him some soup.

But that might not go down well. You couldn't coax a wild animal into your house and expect them to let you fuss over them. You'd end up missing some fingers.

So Iruka decided to try the coaxing, but keep the fussing to a minimum.

"Kakashi-sensei, come inside from the rain!"

Iruka could see the hesitation in the way Kakashi tensed. The chuunin had to squint to see through the elements, and shout to be heard over the deafening roar of the rain. He couldn't go outside barefooted and pull Kakashi through his door, but he damn well wanted to.

"I need to talk to you!" Iruka cried. This time, he saw Kakashi relax slightly. It seemed that he was more at ease with having an actual _reason_ to enter Iruka's house. And there _was _a reason, Iruka wanted to know if they had found the shinobi that Hanabi had seen. Had he been caught? Was that why Kakashi was back within the village so soon? Maybe the shinobi had stolen into Konoha, and Kakashi was still searching. Maybe Iruka was interrupting the jounin while he was trying to track the enemy ninja who was trying to kidnap the village students.

But Iruka's heart stopped hammering when Kakashi turned and shuffled hastily towards Iruka, with his head lowered against the beating of the rain.

Iruka stepped out of the doorway, and let Kakashi in.

oO0Oo

Kakashi pulled the door closed behind him and shook himself. His hair whipped at his exposed eye and sent droplets scattering in all directions. He didn't like this rain. There hadn't been a cloud in the sky, and then suddenly the rain had been lashing down on them without any warning. It couldn't be a coincidence that the rain had been heavy enough to wash away all traces of the scent that the dogs were following. Maybe he was being a tad suspicious, but his innate paranoia had kept him alive thus far, he wasn't about to dismiss it so easily.

The warmth of Iruka's house sent a pleasant shiver down his spine; he sighed as he wiped his hair out of his face and looked at the schoolteacher, who was standing a couple of feet away from him, smiling kindly.

"Come in, Kakashi-sensei," Iruka's smile widened as he beckoned the jounin further into his house. Kakashi swallowed and blinked at the bright lights that infused the house with a cheery glow. He was dripping everywhere, he'd trail puddles all through the man's house.

But Iruka was watching him expectantly, so Kakashi kicked off his shoes and stepped further inside.

The house was completely welcoming. Kakashi glanced around at the messy pictures hanging haphazardly over the wall to his side, filled with colourful patterns, the artwork of children. There was a bookshelf further in, stacks of books had been thrown along the shelves in a mismatch of sizes and titles. There was a worn looking blue couch and table that had scrolls and papers strewn across it. Compared to Kakashi's sterile little place, Iruka's house was beautiful. It was filled with homely touches and cheerful accents. It made Kakashi want to curl up in a corner and fall asleep, the definition of warmth and security.

Kakashi looked down at his feet and noticed the puddle forming on the floor beneath him. He was dripping rainwater over Iruka's floorboards. He felt rather abashed.

"You're soaking," Iruka said, and Kakashi felt himself shrink. He should just leave, he was getting water everywhere. Why had Iruka asked him to come inside anyway? He was spoiling the schoolteacher's perfect little sanctuary.

"Would you like some spare clothes?" Iruka asked, Kakashi looked into Iruka's face and saw a wealth of honest concern staring back at him. He felt something inside him expand.

"Um…" was all Kakashi could think to say as he continued to drip on Iruka's nice clean floor.

"I could lend you a spare uniform if you want," Iruka said, his eyes were wide, almost pleading, "you'll get sick if you stay in those wet clothes."

"Ah, no, thank you," Kakashi replied; he didn't like the thought of taking anything that belonged to Iruka, even if only for a little while. Everything about Iruka was kind and warm and comfortable. He already felt like he was taking liberties just by standing there. Ridiculous really, he _had_ been invited in. What was it about the chuunin that made Kakashi so horrendously uncomfortable? He felt almost unworthy, which was stupid. But compared to Iruka, Kakashi felt like a broken vase that had been clumsily glued back together again. He was chipped and damaged, and nowhere near as valuable as he could have been.

"Oh," Iruka looked a little disappointed, and Kakashi almost changed his mind and said he would like a change of clothes, just to wipe that look off Iruka's face, but the schoolteacher backed away suddenly, "I'll just get you a towel," he said hastily, "just wait there!"

And then he was gone. Kakashi watched him race around the table and out of the room, as though he wanted nothing more than to get away from the jounin.

And Kakashi was still dripping all over the place. He didn't want to move around, he'd only spread the puddles. This was why he didn't have friends, he never knew how to act around people. Either he made them uncomfortable or they made him uncomfortable, they couldn't understand him or he couldn't understand them. He made a note to tell Obito exactly that the next morning.

Kakashi simply stood there and waited. He could hear Iruka moving around above him, searching for a towel. Kakashi bounced on the balls of his feet and shook his hands, but that only sprayed water everywhere, so he decided to keep still instead. What had Iruka wanted to talk to him about? He never went into people's homes without good reason, he always felt like an intruder. He felt like an intruder now, making puddles on Iruka's floor. He felt utterly out of place.

He just wanted to go home, have a scorching hot shower to chase away the chill that had seeped into his bones, and go to sleep. He felt drained; watching one of his dogs almost drown had taken more out of him than he would care to admit.

Kakashi tugged off his hitai-ate and rubbed his hand over his eye. The mask was starting to itch as it dried; he felt clammy and uncomfortable and where the hell was Iruka with that towel?

"Here you are," Iruka breathed as he walked back into the room, holding a pristine white towel in his hand.

Kakashi smiled and reached out to take the towel, but the schoolteacher paused. Kakashi peered into Iruka's chocolate brown eyes and felt a small jolt run through him when he saw Iruka staring into the Sharingan. His eyes were slightly glassy, and his lips were parted as he stared at Kakashi. The sight did something strange to Kakashi's insides, he felt like he was being warmed from the pit of his stomach.

Kakashi cleared his throat loudly and tore his eyes away, focusing instead upon the towel Iruka was holding. When Kakashi reached out to take it, Iruka jumped, jerked out of his revelry.

"S-sorry," Iruka smiled sheepishly as Kakashi passed the towel through his drenched locks, "I… um, I've just never seen… without your hitai-ate… sorry."

Kakashi shrugged and smiled back, "it's alright." He rubbed the towel over his face, wiping away the layer of water that covered his exposed skin. There was nothing he could do for the dampness of his mask, but he felt a little better for passing the fluffy material over it.

He felt something in his chest clench almost painfully when he inhaled. He could smell jasmine on the towel; something deep within him stirred slightly when he realised that it smelled like Iruka.

Kakashi swallowed hard and wrapped the towel around his neck, trying not to think about how nice the towel actually smelled, it felt like his stomach had started dancing. He was sure he had turned red under the mask.

"Why do you wear it?" Iruka asked suddenly.

Ah, here we go, they all want to know about the mask. Kakashi felt a little more sure footed now, this was familiar territory.

"The hitai-ate, I mean," Iruka said, completely throwing Kakashi for a loop, "why do you wear it over the Sharingan? Is it just to stop people from recognising you?"

Kakashi blinked a number of times in rapid succession. He was still standing in a puddle, Iruka was smiling hesitantly at him and there was a hint of jasmine clinging to his mask. His head was swimming.

"I can't turn the Sharingan off," he replied, "it depletes my chakra, so I keep it covered."

"Oh," Iruka breathed, his eyes were passing over Kakashi's face, from his natural eye to the red one, "should you leave it uncovered now then?"

"It'll be alright for a while," Kakashi replied. Besides, his hitai-ate was soaked, he didn't really relish the thought of putting it straight back on. But maybe Iruka meant that he _wanted_ him to put it back on. It might be making him uncomfortable, Kakashi usually only revealed it when in battle after all.

Kakashi raised the hitai-ate to his face again, and began to wrap the material around his head with the ease of someone who goes through the same process each day.

"Oh, you don't have to cover it if you don't want to," Iruka said as he raised his hand, "I was just curious."

Kakashi lowered the headband again and let his eyes roam around the room. He wasn't good with people, it was a proven fact. His sensei had once tried to teach him how to interact with people; Kakashi had ended up with a black eye and a thoroughly apologetic sensei.

"Er, Iruka-sensei," he said carefully, "what did you want to talk to me about?"

Kakashi watched Iruka's tanned face turn a rather delicious shade of pink, "right, yes, sorry…" Iruka stuttered, "I just wanted to ask you about the shinobi that Hanabi said she saw. You went out to find him didn't you? Any luck?"

Kakashi shook his head and rubbed the towel over his hair again, "we lost his scent when the rain started."

Iruka's face fell. He bit his bottom lip as his eyes dropped to the floor, and Kakashi felt his stomach do something uncalled for when confronted with the schoolteacher's expression.

"Well," Kakashi sucked in a lungful of air again, and then regretted it when the scent of jasmine made his head spin, "I'd best be going."

"What?" Iruka snapped his head up and frowned at the jounin, then he looked towards the window and the frown deepened, "but it's raining."

Kakashi looked down at the puddle at his feet, "I noticed."

"You can't go back out in that," Iruka said.

"But I'm already wet," Kakashi replied.

"You've just started drying off," Iruka argued, and then his gaze lowered to the wetness around Kakashi's feet and his eyes widened, "look, you'll get sick, sit down, I'll find you some spare clothes and make some tea."

"What?" Kakashi shook his head; panic was bristling around his edges, "no that's alright…"

"You'll sit down," Iruka said stonily, leaving no room for argument as he pulled a chair out from under the table, "and wait for the rain to stop."

"But it might never stop," Kakashi said in a rush, suddenly desperate to get away from the smell of jasmine and the pretty blushes the chuunin seemed to swamp him with.

"Then you'll never leave," Iruka said with finality as he walked around Kakashi and pushed him backwards until he practically fell into the seat.

He was making the chair wet.

"But…"

"No arguments!"

Kakashi pressed his lips together, feeling very much like one of Iruka's students. He didn't know what to do with himself. What had just happened? One moment Iruka was blushing and biting his lip and making Kakashi feel rather uncomfortable and out of place, the next the chuunin was arguing with him and thoroughly confusing him.

He wasn't used to feeling quite so out of control. He usually had a firm grasp of every situation; he was always one step ahead of everyone else, but Iruka was a complete anomaly in Kakashi's neat little life.

And he was still dripping, only now he was dripping over the chair. His arm had fallen onto the table when he had been knocked into the seat, and when he looked he noticed how the rainwater had soaked into the scrolls and papers scattered across the tabletop.

"Wait there, I'll find you some clothes," Iruka said.

Kakashi opened his mouth to protest, he really didn't need to change, he was fine as he was, he wanted to go home for crying out loud. But the chuunin was off around the table again and Kakashi had utterly ruined the paperwork lying there. He winced; Iruka had gone psycho on him simply because he wanted to walk home in the rain, how would he react to finding all of this schoolwork destroyed?

Kakashi dabbed the towel to the papers, hoping to at least limit the damage, but when he lifted the towel away he noticed the black ink stains that had bled into the immaculate white of the towel from the paper he had been dabbing.

Shit. How come he could move with the grace and finesse of a dancer and the agility of cat, until he walked into Umino Iruka's house and he turned into a clumsy, awkward oaf?

If Kakashi was ever forced to pit his skills against Iruka's in a fair fight, Kakashi would end up on his ass. He'd probably fall over his own feet. Iruka wouldn't need to lift a finger.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

So much for keeping the fussing to a minimum.

Iruka jerked the drawer out and rifled through his clothes. What was Kakashi playing at wading through that weather anyway? He'd end up with pneumonia and Iruka would be the one feeling guilty when the idiot dropped dead. He was doing Konoha a service really, making sure that Kakashi didn't go back out into that torrential downpour. It wouldn't benefit Konoha for them to have their Copy-nin out of commission thanks to the flu.

Iruka slammed the drawer shut and pulled the next one out, but he yanked so hard that the drawer came clean out of the chest of drawers and hit the floor with a sharp thud.

"Shit." What was it about Kakashi that made Iruka so flustered? The jounin hadn't done anything. Kakashi had simply stood there, calm and poised and as stoic and unmoving as stone while he waited for Iruka to find a towel. Iruka had flitted about the bathroom looking for a fresh one, panicking about how long he was making Kakashi wait. And then he had _gaped_ at the Sharingan, he had stood there dumbstruck, staring like an idiot.

And Kakashi had calmly taken the towel from him with a slight cough.

Kakashi probably though he was a complete flake. The jounin had been the epitome off cool, merely standing there and watching Iruka go nuts.

Iruka wanted to shrivel up and disappear.

And then he had yelled. Again. He always seemed to be yelling at Kakashi. Mostly when he had no right to. Iruka had bossed Kakashi around, then actually _pushed_ him into a chair, while the jounin had peered up at him as though he had grown an extra head.

Iruka groaned as he pilfered his wardrobe. It wasn't fair, how come Kakashi got to be the cool and collected one? Iruka felt like a basket case whenever he was around him, and that _definitely _wasn't fair, because if anyone was mentally unhinged, it was the ex-ANBU sitting at his table.

Iruka snatched an extra uniform up into his hands and scrutinised the size. Kakashi seemed to be about his size, maybe two or three centimetres taller, a little broader along the shoulders and more slender at the waist. Iruka's mind skipped merrily to the way Kakashi's wet clothes had clung possessively to him, flaunting defined biceps and muscular thighs.

Iruka shook his head to knock his thoughts into some semblance of coherency. The clothes would fit. He swivelled back to the bedroom door and made his way back downstairs.

When Iruka walked back into the main room of his house, Kakashi was still sat on the chair Iruka had forced him into. The Jounin was frowning at the paperwork on the table, and Iruka wondered what he was thinking, it was just some test papers and lesson plans, nothing to be looking over so acutely.

Kakashi looked up when Iruka didn't move right away. The jounin didn't raise his head, merely flicked his eyes upwards to pin Iruka in place across the room. Iruka didn't gasp at the sudden scrutiny, but it was a close thing. Kakashi had the ability to look right through Iruka, the chuunin almost felt like he wasn't really there, like Kakashi was staring to something behind him and Iruka was just an obstruction. With the Sharingan revealed, the fierce gaze was amplified. Iruka thought his insides might be melting under the scrutiny, but it wasn't entirely unpleasant.

"Clothes," Iruka held up the uniform he had carried with him. Kakashi's eyes wandered away from Iruka, and the schoolteacher felt like he could breathe again.

"I've got water all over your papers," Kakashi said softly.

"That's alright," Iruka swallowed, "they'll dry."

Kakashi looked back up at Iruka with his hooded eyes, and then blew out a weary sigh and shook his head slightly. Iruka didn't know what to make of the jounin's response, so he chose to ignore it and stride over to Kakashi, holding the dry clothes out to the Copy-nin with what he hoped was a smile, but his face might have done many things in the attempt. His mouth had gone dry, and for some reason Iruka was painfully aware of each and every breath that Kakashi took; it felt like all of his senses were trained on the rise and fall of his chest.

"You can change in the bathroom," he said, his voice sounded strange, even to his own ears, there was slightly more breath in his words, "it's up the stairs, at the end of the hallway."

Kakashi looked from Iruka's face, to the dark material held out to him, "I don't think…"

"Stop being difficult," Iruka said, and he found that his smile came easier. Maybe if he just treated Kakashi like one of his unruly students he wouldn't feel so awkward around the jounin.

Kakashi took the clothes, but he moved slowly, as though waiting for a fatal strike and wanting to be prepared.

"Just put your wet clothes in the bathtub," Iruka smiled, "I'll make some tea."

The way the mask moved over Kakashi's face, Iruka thought he was going to say something. But instead, the jounin remained silent, and elegantly rose from the chair. For some reason Iruka had to concentrate on keeping his eyes squarely on Kakashi's face. His eyes seemed to want to roam over the contours of Kakashi's sleek frame, to drink in the curves and the angles.

Obviously he would be curious; this was Sharingan Kakashi after all, one of the most powerful ninja alive. It made sense that Iruka would want to examine every angle and absorb all of the details that made the Copy-nin so formidable. But he kept his eyes rooted to Kakashi's face, and hoped to any god that was listening that he wasn't blushing.

"Why are you so keen for me to stay?" Kakashi said suddenly, standing over Iruka and staring intently at the clothes he was holding.

"Huh?" Iruka blinked. He wasn't keen, he didn't care if Kakashi stayed or not, he just didn't want the jounin to get sick, "I don't want you to get sick."

Kakashi looked up from the clothes and back into Iruka's face, and this time, Iruka _knew_ he was blushing under the weight of that solid gaze.

"Why?" Kakashi asked, so softly Iruka barely heard it over the rushing in his ears.

"Well, because…" Iruka swallowed. What was the jounin's problem? He was trying to help, to be nice, to make sure he was alright. But even as Iruka thought about why he was giving the Copy-nin dry clothes and offering to make him tea, he knew that there was another reason, skirting around the back of his mind, refusing to be acknowledged.

"Because," Iruka said a little more confidently, "we take care of each other in Konoha. You know that, Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi just blinked. He nodded his head, but he looked marginally saddened, only for a moment, before he strode around the table and vanished out of the room. Alone, once again, Iruka felt like he could breathe.

He also felt rather hollow, alone, once again.

He walked into the kitchen, feeling particularly light headed. It was exhilarating to be in such close proximity to Kakashi. No, not to Kakashi, but to all of the raw power and bridled skill the man had locked within him. Iruka imagined that standing so close to the Copy-nin, looking into the Sharingan with only a tremor of fear, was akin to crouching before a tiger, looking into it's face, and knowing that you'd be able to walk away unharmed.

But Iruka had a hard time expressing the awe he felt. So he raised his voice and tried to exert his authority over his superior, just like back in front of Sandaime before the chuunin exams, and just then in the main room, coldly informing him that he wasn't allowed to leave until it stopped raining.

Perhaps he had a death wish. Maybe some sadistic crease in his mind wanted to see how far he could push the Copy-nin before he was shredded. But if being in Kakashi's presence was a rush, then being able to give the man an order, and then see it followed through with barely any argument, was divinely thrilling.

The air was loud with static, the ever present hiss of rapidly falling water and the drumming of the rain on the window. Before, his confinement had been frustrating, but now he was relishing it. He was caged in, cramped, and he couldn't explain why the frustrated energy he had had before had melted into an eager suspense burning low beneath his navel. He didn't know why he felt so weightless with anticipation simply because he was cooped up inside his house.

"Earth to Iruka-sensei."

Iruka almost jumped clean out of his skin at the gentle purr of Kakashi's voice. The burning in his belly flared up in excitement. That was what was different. He wasn't cooped up _alone_.

"Sorry," Iruka smirked a little self reproachfully, "I was daydreaming, do you want some…" the word 'tea' dissolved on his tongue when he turned to face his impromptu house guest. Kakashi was wearing Iruka's spare uniform, a pair of loose black trousers, and a black turtleneck. Without the bandages strapped around his calves, or the flak jacket zipped up over his chest, Kakashi looked… softer. He was less hard around the edges and more approachable. There was no underlying brutality or ingrained ferocity about this Kakashi who stood in Iruka's kitchen, wearing Iruka's clothes. He was smaller somehow, cuddly even. More vulnerable.

And he was wearing _Iruka's clothes_. The hem of the left sleeve was frayed slightly, and there was a criss cross of grey stitches near the right ankle where Iruka had sewn the material back together. Kakashi was wearing _his_ clothes, and beneath the unforgiving lights of the kitchen, with the rain pressing them in, and wet footprints across the floorboards, it suddenly seemed so very intimate. With Kakashi covered by what was Iruka's, the chuunin was assaulted by a strange longing that tugged at his insides.

"Are you alright?" Kakashi asked. The jounin was still wearing the mask, but both eyes blinked in curiosity at Iruka as he hovered in the kitchen.

Wasn't the mask still wet? Iruka supposed that it must be, but Kakashi wasn't likely to take it off with Iruka standing right there. Not for the first time that day did the schoolteacher wonder what lay beneath that thin layer of material. The incline of his jaw was visible, and gave Kakashi's face an almost delicate shape, and the line of his nose and the arch of his lips could be seen from certain angles. But there was still so much left to the imagination, and Iruka wondered if he would spend so much time pondering Kakashi's face if he actually knew what was under there.

There had to be a reason why he wore it. A real reason, not something as trivial as buck teeth. He wore it all the time, he went to such great lengths to hide his face, there had to be a reason behind such a consuming neuroses.

But Iruka wouldn't ask, because it wasn't his place. If Kakashi wanted people to know then he would tell them.

"Tea?" Iruka rolled the word off his tongue, finally finishing his sentence.

"No thank you," Kakashi replied.

"Kakashi-sensei," Iruka narrowed his eyes and spoke in his most effective sensei voice, "you need to get something warm into you, you were drenched."

"Maa," Kakashi raised his hands in a placating wave, and his eyes became crescents. Seeing both of Kakashi's eyes smile, rather than just the one, was oddly becoming. It made the smile seem more genuine.

"I'm not thirsty Iruka-sensei," Kakashi breathed, "I don't want to put you to any trouble."

"No trouble," Iruka chimed, "make yourself at home Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi floundered for a second, unsure of where to put himself. It was endearing to watch the jounin glance around, and then move to put his hands into his pockets, only to discover that the trousers Iruka had given to him didn't have any. He looked slightly miffed at that, and stared at his hands.

And then it struck Iruka, with shattering force, that he had Kakashi out of his element. This was a Kakashi who was in unfamiliar territory, wearing someone else's clothes, with no weapons immediately to hand, unsure of how to act and holding himself with a sliver of hesitation. The sight actually made Iruka smile as Kakashi raised his hand to the back of his head and rubbed his neck. A Kakashi out of his element Iruka could handle.

"I'm going to make some tea," Iruka half chuckled, "you might not want some, but I do. And there are some things I'd like to discuss with you, if you don't mind."

That seemed to make the jounin slightly more comfortable. Just as Iruka thought, Kakashi felt more secure with an actual reason to be hanging around Iruka's kitchen.

"Just go sit in there," Iruka smiled, "I'll be out in a minute."

Kakashi only wavered for an instant before turning and padding out of the kitchen. Iruka listened to the gentle fall of bare feet and the light scrape of wood over wood as a chair was pulled out, while he busied himself with making tea. He fetched two cups out of the cupboard, just in case. Kakashi might change his mind after all, and Iruka was nothing if not a decent host.

Iruka carried the tray into the main room, and paused at the sight he was awarded. Kakashi had the towel Iruka had brought him in his hand, and he was knelt on the floor, mopping up the puddles on the floorboards from where he had been dripping.

"You don't have to do that," Iruka almost whispered, something thudded in his chest with the weight of some unnamed emotion.

Kakashi looked up, and his eyes arched happily, "I clean up my own messes, Iruka-sensei."

Iruka breathed in and moved towards the table to place the tray down. Kakashi was still crouched, right beside him, looking up with twinkling, mismatched eyes.

The cups started rattling on the tray. The tabletop was a war zone of paper and scrolls, slightly damp and smudged. Iruka searched for somewhere to put the tray, when the towel was dropped onto the table, and a pair of pale, scarred hands swept out to gather the papers.

Iruka had never seen Kakashi's hand's free of his gloves. Such a small thing to pick up on, but even that seemed like a milestone that he had unknowingly reached. Kakashi seemed slightly more naked now. More of him had been bared to Iruka, and the chuunin felt overwhelmingly privileged.

He placed the tray on the table and pulled back one of the chairs to sit down on.

"Um," Kakashi hummed, "what shall I do with these?"

Kakashi was looking down at the schoolwork in his arms, and Iruka felt his face heat up yet again.

"Sorry, I'll take them." He reached out and wrapped his fingers around the documents, but his skin brushed over Kakashi's hand, ever so lightly, like the movement of a butterfly's wing.

Kakashi jumped, startled, and dropped the papers.

oO0Oo

The rain was full of memories. Echoes of the past that washed over Shinichi, like tears of a childhood he had left behind. As a child Shinichi would run out into the rain, he would leap into the puddles and spin around in the downpour, and laugh until his throat hurt.

He always seemed to have the town to himself when it rained. Everyone else would be hidden inside, dry and warm, while Shinichi ran through the water, alone and free and unhindered. There was no one to look down on him, no one to whisper behind his back because he was the brother of the monster who had slaughtered all of those genin at the chuunin exam. He was just a little boy in the rain, laughing.

One of Shinichi's earliest memories was of laughing in the rain. He hadn't known that Zabuza was there until his older brother had grabbed a handful of his soaking hair.

"I'm not taking care of you when you get sick."

Zabuza had dragged him inside by his hair, ignoring Shinichi's tears of pain.

Shinichi did get sick. Zabuza didn't take care of him. But every time Shinichi went out in the rain, Zabuza would be there to drag him back in by his hair. And somehow Shinichi's reasons for laughing in the rain changed. He would run outside, getting drenched, just so that Zabuza would come and find him. And Zabuza always came to find him.

Shinichi crouched low on the rooftop and watched the rain wash over Konoha. When had Zabuza stopped coming to find him? It had been before Zabuza had become a missing-nin, Shinichi couldn't kid himself that his brother only left him out in the rain because he had been forced to flee the village. It had happened before then, Zabuza had just stopped thinking about Shinichi, he had stopped caring.

But whenever it rained, Shinichi still waited for the rough hand to fist in his hair, for the angry voice to tell him that he would suffer alone when he got sick, for the smile that would tease at his lips knowing that his brother had come out into the rain, gotten wet, just to find him.

And Shinichi had been foolish to wait for that. There had always been a naïve part of him that hoped Zabuza would come back, and that the hand in his hair would be real. Stupid of him, and stupid of him to think of that now, when his brother was dead and Shinichi would eternally be left out in the rain; no one was going to come and find him.

He leapt off the rooftop and landed in a puddle. The water jumped upwards, crowning around his ankles as it splashed. He didn't laugh, he would have once, but not anymore. Instead he turned and walked down the street, empty and abandoned but for Shinichi and the rain.

Even cowering beneath a storm cloud Konoha exuded warmth. In the windows, light were blazing to combat the gloom. Lanterns swayed in the wind, flickering warmth against the wetness of the air. On either side of the street, within the buildings, the murmur of conversation and the hum of laughter floated outwards and reached Shinichi's ears. Konoha seemed comfortable, even drenched in rain. There was an underlying gentleness that welcomed him, a friendly atmosphere that the dull clouds and splattering rain couldn't hide. Konoha was peaceful and quaint, but Shinichi was not fooled. The village was an iron fist in a velvet glove. Konoha had fangs in the shape of shinobi, and it was a well known fact that the Leaf took care of their own, those fangs would bite if anyone within Konoha was threatened.

Further ahead, through the rain, a blink of red caught Shinichi's eye. It was just an umbrella, propped up just inside a ramen stand. The light from the stall spilled out over the puddles, the stain of red within all of the grey was a defiant flare of colour. Shinichi didn't break his stride as he walked past, he carried on walking even as he snatched his arm into the ramen stand and swept up the umbrella.

If there was no one to pull him out of the rain by his hair, then he didn't want the rain to fall on him.

oO0Oo

Kakashi gingerly placed himself back in the chair, and watched as Iruka unceremoniously stuffed his paperwork onto the shelf behind him. He splayed his palms out over the surface of the table, soaking up the grooves and grain beneath his fingers.

He never knew what to do with his hands. Outside of the battlefield they just seemed to get in the way. If they weren't forming seals then they were pointless. He had to hide them in his pockets, or busy them with the pages of Icha Icha. But the current lack of pockets and porn was incredibly pronounced. He rapped his fingertips on the table.

"Are you sure you don't want some tea?" Iruka asked.

"No thank you," Kakashi smiled. Was it impolite to turn down an offer of tea? He had no idea; no one ever invited him in for tea. He used to drink tea with his sensei, but he never felt uncomfortable then, because the Yellow flash had seen his face, so Kakashi could pull his mask down and drink. Even if he didn't feel like tea, his sensei would pour him a cup anyway, but it was alright for Kakashi to leave the cup untouched, because it was almost impossible to offend the man, so Kakashi never had to worry about it.

But Iruka poured the steaming liquid into both cups anyway, and pushed one across the table towards Kakashi.

"Just in case you change your mind," the schoolteacher smiled.

For a very brief moment, Kakashi's heart stopped. His fingers stilled on the table and he just stared at the tea in front of him. Wasn't that what the Yellow Flash always said to him? _"Just in case you change your mind, Kakashi-kun."_ With that beaming smile, just like the one Iruka was wearing.

"Thank you," Kakashi replied when he found his voice. But he wasn't going to drink it, it was just nice to have it there in front of him. It reminded him of a time when there were actually people who wanted to drink tea with him.

As Iruka raised his cup to his lips, he was looking at Kakashi's hands. There was a thoughtful look on his face, and Kakashi thought he could see those chocolate eyes tracing the scars of his left hand, silvery lines that decorated his too white skin. He tapped his fingers again.

"So, Iruka-sensei," Kakashi swallowed, but he felt better when Iruka's eyes moved from his hands to his face, "what was it you wanted to discuss with me?" Maybe once they had talked about whatever it was Iruka wanted to talk about, Kakashi could go home without seeming like he was trying to escape. Maybe the rain would stop soon, maybe Iruka would cease making him feel like a wreck.

"Oh, right," Iruka's eyebrows slanted together, and as he lowered his cup Kakashi noticed the moisture on the chuunin's lips glisten slightly.

Kakashi licked his lips. He watched Iruka's lips move silently; it was hypnotising, and Kakashi was suddenly smothered by the desire to be closer to Iruka, to just lean over the table and get nearer to him.

"Sorry?" Kakashi started when he realised that the movement of Iruka's lips had been the schoolteacher actually speaking to him, he had been so wrapped up in those lips that even his Sharingan hadn't read what Iruka had said, "what did you say?"

Iruka frowned and took a deep breath, "I asked you about the shinobi you were tracking. Do you think he's still out there? He might have decided to leave, maybe that was why you couldn't find him."

Kakashi shook his head, "he's still out there, although I don't know what his reasons for being here are."

"But how can you be sure he's still here?" Iruka asked, hope lighting up his voice, "if you couldn't find him…"

"He tried to drown my dog," Kakashi growled, balling his hands into fists on the table. He had forgotten about that. In the bright warmth of Iruka's house, with jasmine and puddles and the aroma of tea, he had been able to forget the ice that had frozen his veins when he saw Bull under the water, unable to get out.

Who would do that to a dog? It didn't matter that Bull was a nin-dog; a person capable of trapping an animal under a layer of chakra like that could come up with a million more humane ways to kill a dog. To drown him was just cruel, there was no need for it.

"Is he alright?" Iruka asked, "your dog?"

No matter how Kakashi felt, it was amplified in Iruka's face. The chuunin looked horrified and outraged at the same time, and it made Kakashi feel better knowing that he could share it with someone, just a little bit.

"He's fine," Kakashi sighed, "as pathetic and dozy as ever. I almost had a heart attack though."

He wiped his hand over his face as he spoke, but he froze when he heard what he had just said. He wasn't used to admitting how he felt to people, it gave them an edge and made him seem weaker. But there was something about the schoolteacher that oiled his tongue. When he lowered his hand from his face, he was mildly shocked to see Iruka smiling.

"You must really care about your dogs," Iruka said.

"Um… I suppose," Kakashi replied, feeling slightly awkward. He shuffled in his seat and tapped his fingertips to the wood of the table. The tea was cooling in front of him, he moved his hands to cup the drink, but made no move to lift it. He let the lingering heat of the beverage seep into his palms and watched the steam swirl upwards.

"So he's still out there then," Iruka said softly. His face had fallen again, and he was staring at the cup in Kakashi's hands with a frown, "do you think he'll try to get his hands on any of the children?"

"Hmm?" Kakashi frowned, "I don't think he's after any of your students, Iruka-sensei."

"What makes you say that?" Iruka asked, "he was in the forest when those Sound-nin tried to take them."

"Yes," Kakashi replied thoughtfully, "but I don't think he was there for the same reason as the others."

"How can you be sure," Iruka asked as he leant forwards a little, eager to hear what Kakashi would say.

"Just a feeling," Kakashi shrugged.

Iruka nodded and sat back, but his features didn't lighten, a frown was still shadowing his face. Kakashi wanted to smooth that frown away, but he wasn't sure how.

"Have you heard from Naruto, Iruka-sensei?" Kakashi asked, seizing upon a topic he could share with the chuunin.

"No," Iruka groaned, and if anything the frown deepened, "not in quite a while. I worry about him, god only knows what he's getting up to."

Kakashi stroked his fingertips over the cup in his hands. He had only made Iruka worry more, that hadn't been his intention. He was useless with people, he had no people skills at all. It wasn't entirely his fault that he never knew what to say or how to act. His upbringing had been anything but conventional. When he was small, all of the other children would be playing and running through the streets, laughter ringing out behind them. Kakashi would watch them, listen to them play at being ninja, and wonder why they would choose to pretend such a thing. He was already a shinobi at that point, the youngest in the village. The other shinobi regarded him with wary awe and anxious expectation, and the children he should have been playing with were afraid of him, or disliked him. Ever since then he had always been out of place. Too young, too skilled, too experienced, to deadly. He didn't fit in anywhere.

He certainly didn't fit in Iruka's house, at the teacher's table, holding a cup of tea and trying to make conversation.

"Maa, Iruka-sensei," Kakashi sighed, "maybe I should…"

He was interrupted by a scratching sound raking through the house. Both Kakashi and Iruka turned towards the door, where the noise was coming from.

"Who could that be?" Iruka mumbled as he rose from his chair.

Kakashi peered towards the door. There was a knot of chakra on the other side, a baser sort of energy, not human but definitely highly trained.

"It's Kuromaru," Kakashi said in wonder. What was the Inuzuka dog doing at Iruka's house?

"Kuromaru?" Iruka frowned, "you mean Inuzuka Tsume's animal familiar?"

Kakashi nodded and watched the chuunin wander away from the table and pull the door open. A heavy breath of wind forced its way through the open door, and the violent spray of outside whipped in. Kuromaru was standing on the doorstep, scowling irritably inside. His dark fur was drenched, matted to his frame and dripping heavily. He did not look impressed. Kakashi coughed down a chuckle.

"Kuromaru-san," Iruka breathed, "come inside."

"No thank you Iruka-sensei," the dog growled, "I came to find Kakashi."

"He's just in here," Iruka opened the door wider, and Kakashi gave the dog a cheery wave.

"Tsume's reported the situation to the Hokage," Kuromaru snarled at Kakashi, "she wants to see you."

"Tsume?" Kakashi asked.

The dog growled loudly, not in the least bit pleased to be standing out in the lashing rain when he could be at home in the warmth of his house, "no, Godaime-sama. Tsume sent me to find you, I've been all over the village trying to locate your scent in this fucking rain, stop fooling around."

Kakashi blinked, his eyebrows arched upwards in surprise and he pointed to himself, "who's fooling around?"

The dog snarled again and stepped backwards, "have a good day Iruka-sensei." And then he was gone, shot off into the rain, four legs pushing him homewards.

"Well," Kakashi rose from his chair, "I'd best go, um…" He was still wearing the chuunin's clothes, he didn't know if he was supposed to leave still wearing them, or if he should put on his own wet clothes before he left.

"I'll bring you your clothes when they're dry," Iruka smiled, "it's a shame you have to go, I was enjoying your company."

"You… were?" Kakashi frowned. He hadn't been much company, he'd done nothing but squirm and generally act awkward.

Iruka nodded and stepped closer to Kakashi, "we should do it again some time," he said, "have tea I mean. But, only if you want to though, I just think it would be nice…" the chuunin chuckled to himself and bit his lip nervously.

Kakashi just blinked. He wanted to do it again? He actually wanted to have tea with him?

The relief that Kakashi had felt upon having an excuse to leave was pushed away by a tight wave of disappointment. He didn't want to leave. He didn't know why, but he wanted to stay there, in Iruka's cheerful house, having tea that he wouldn't drink, feeling uncomfortable and out of place. He wanted to stay.

"That… would be nice," Kakashi replied.

Iruka beamed, "good."

oO0Oo

Shinichi collapsed the umbrella and gave himself a slight shake as he entered the tea house. The establishment looked out over the public park of Konoha, lush fields and green trees that were currently water logged. There was a sign outside, advertising rooms to let above the tea house, and Shinichi would need a place to stay while he was in the village.

He edged past the patrons towards the counter. The place was packed with villagers seeking refuge from the rain, every seat was filled, there were even people standing in the corners and leaning against the walls.

"What can I get you dear?" the aging woman behind the counter smiled up at him.

"I'd like a room for the night," Shinichi replied as he glanced around.

"Not a problem," she replied happily as she turned the pages of a ledger on the worktop, "I'll have someone get a room ready for you. Would you like anything while you wait?"

"Chamomile tea," Shinichi replied. Upon walking into the crowded little room he had become aware of the chill that had settled inside him. He could do with something to warm him up.

"Just find a place to sit dear," the woman replied as she turned to walk away, "I'll bring it over."

Shinichi turned away and frowned. Take a seat where? The place was a market of flesh. The hubbub was drowning out the roar of the rain; the heat of so many bodies packed so tightly together was making his wet clothes itch. The air was filled with the fragrances of a variety of beverages, and Shinichi was reminded painfully of how long he had gone without anything resembling a meal. His stomach growled.

He scooted along the wall, pausing to let a rather overweight man pass by, when he noticed a spare seat further at the back of the tea house. There was a girl sat at the table, pouring over a pile of papers as she chewed a pen thoughtfully. The seat opposite her was empty, and Shinichi pushed his way towards it before it could be stolen.

"Is this seat free?" he asked.

The pink haired girl looked up; her wide eyes were green, not as vivid as Shinichi's, more of a pastel shade, but pretty nonetheless.

"Hnn?" she hummed around the pen in her mouth, "yes, it's free."

Shinichi slid himself into the seat and propped the umbrella up at the side of the table. The papers she was frowning over looked like medical documents of some sort, outlining complicated medical jutsu. It was high tech stuff; Shinichi could only assume she was a medic-nin, there was a hitai-ate fastened over her head, keeping her hair back like a headband. The swirling emblem of Konoha nestled within her pink hair.

"Nnn," the girl chewed on the pen furiously, "don't suppose you know the range of Chikatsu Saisei No Jutsu?" she looked up hopefully.

The Healing Resuscitation Regeneration technique. Shinichi smiled slightly, she had to be a medic-nin if she was studying that, and a pretty advanced one too, even though she only looked like she was about fourteen years old.

"Sorry, no idea," he smiled. Wouldn't do to let anyone know that he was a shinobi.

"Nnn," she dropped her head to the table, "Kakashi never made us cram like this."

The world fell swiftly away. Shinichi held his breath and stared down at the back of the girls head.

"Kakashi?" he said. His mouth had gone as dry as a bone.

"Mm," she raised her head, "my brains have turned to mush, maybe I can get Shizune to help me." She looked past Shinichi to the hammering rain outside with a slight pout, "it only ever rains when I don't have an umbrella."

"You can take mine," Shinichi gave her the biggest smile he could muster, despite the fact that his heart was thudding dangerously in his chest.

"Huh?" her eyes widened, "oh, no, I couldn't! I wasn't hinting or anything! I can't take your umbrella…"

Shinichi held the umbrella out to her, the smile still painted on his face, "please," he said, "I don't need it. I'm staying in one of the rooms here. You can have it."

The girl looked panicked for a moment, her eyes flitted from the umbrella in Shinichi's hands to his face.

"You… you're sure?"

Shinichi nodded.

"Oh, well," she grinned, "thank you so much, and I promise to return it." She patted the papers into a pile and took the umbrella from his hands as she rose to her feet.

"I'm Sakura by the way," she smiled.

"Shinichi," he replied.

"Thank you for the umbrella," she said, "you're a lifesaver."

"I wouldn't say that," he said.

Sakura gave him a slight wave, "thanks, I really will return it!"

Shinichi just smiled and watched her leave. He couldn't believe his luck. That girl knew Kakashi, he had only just entered Konoha and already he had a place to start. He had all of the time in the world to find out how to harm Kakashi, and that girl could be just the person to help him. Unbeknownst to her.

"Chamomile tea dear?" the woman from behind the counter smiled and placed the cup down on the table, "your room is ready whenever you are."

"Thank you," Shinichi replied, and he sipped his tea, feeling much warmer than he had before.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

Kakashi was six years old when he first took a life. It hadn't been the blood of a Rock shinobi that he had washed from his hands that day. He had killed one of his comrades. A Leaf ninja.

Konoha had been undermanned. There were shinobi scattered across the country, fortifying military outposts and restocking field hospitals in anticipation of the battles that everyone knew were inevitable. A six year old would never have been sent on such a mission. But there was no one else.

The Leaf shinobi Kakashi had been sent after had fled with Konoha's secrets. Kakashi had to find him and stop him from revealing Hidden Leaf's weaknesses to their enemies. At six, Kakashi's understanding of death was fragile at best. He knew that his mother was gone forever. He knew that those who fell in battle would never return. But he couldn't comprehend the meaning of death, so he glossed over it, paid it no heed, death meant nothing to a six year old.

Kakashi had caught up with his target on the border between Fire Country and Grass Country. The older man had laughed when faced with someone as small as Kakashi was. He was more than twice Kakashi's size, four times Kakashi's age. But that didn't matter, because Kakashi _had_ to stop this man, he had to because he was only six, and he wanted his sensei to smile at him and say "well done," he wanted his father to place his hand on his head and give him a nod of approval. So Kakashi would stop the man who was once his comrade from selling Konoha's secrets, no matter what it entailed.

It entailed a lot of blood.

Kakashi understood then. He watched the man suck in one last gurgling breath, the blood bubbling on his lips. The man's eyes had dimmed, something that was there seconds ago was gone forever. His entire body went slack. He shrank. He died. Kakashi had killed him, and he finally understood what death was. Kakashi had taken something. Something so unfathomably delicate had been snuffed out. It could never be undone. It could never be taken back. There was no room for regret or remorse because it couldn't be changed once it was done. Death meant the end. Death meant forever.

Before, he had been _told_ about death. Right then, he could _see_ it, in the blood on his hands and the empty eyes of his victim. It was forever, and he felt dizzy as his young mind tried to grasp the concept of eternity.

He had been confused by his sensei's reaction. When the Yellow Flash had returned to Konoha from wherever it was he had been sent, and had heard of what had happened, there had been no smiles. He had looked down at Kakashi with something sad and heavy in his eyes. There hadn't been a smile, just a gentle touch to Kakashi's shoulder and sorrow in his sensei's face. When the White Fang had come home, Kakashi had waited for the nod of approval, but received only a hesitant touch to his cheek and a weary sigh from his father.

Kakashi had learnt then, that killing was not something that could be looked upon with approval. Because of his sensei's sad eyes and the sound of his father's sigh, Kakashi came to despise killing. It was a necessity sometimes, and he could kill with frightening efficiency and skill. But death was forever, and each time Kakashi killed, he saw sorrow filled eyes of blue, and heard tired, regretful sighs.

He only killed when he needed to, he never wanted to.

Kakashi didn't know why he was thinking of that, crouched on a dusty rooftop, looking down into a dank, narrow alley somewhere in the heart of Tanzaku Gai. Perhaps it was because the target Tsunade had sent him after was a traitor too; maybe it was because the man Kakashi had been ordered to kill was currently selling Konoha's secrets behind the rusty, grime covered door hidden in the shadows of the alley.

"I have a question," Pakkun rasped from beside the jounin.

"Hmm?" Kakashi pondered how to get in there without tipping his target off, he couldn't risk the man getting spooked and fleeing.

"Why do you smell like Umino Iruka?"

Kakashi's eyes darted from the heavy door to the pug beside him, "huh?"

The dog simply gave him a hard, suspicious stare, "you smell like that schoolteacher you sent us to find in the forest the other day."

Kakashi scowled and looked back to the door. What did it have to do with Pakkun? It was hardly Kakashi's fault anyway, he hadn't had time to change before setting off the day before, Tsunade had made it clear that Kakashi was in a hurry.

"I'm wearing his clothes," Kakashi replied. There was someone sitting on the other side of the door, he could feel the swirl of uncontrolled chakra. A civilian, easily taken care of, but it could alert the wrong people to his presence if he just barged in. He had to get in undetected.

"Why are you wearing Umino Iruka's clothes?" Pakkun was frowning at him, suspiciously. Under the pug's scrutiny, Kakashi felt uncomfortably guilty, as though he had been caught doing something he shouldn't.

Even after a night of running through the forest and prowling the streets of Tanzaku Gai, the heady scent of jasmine was still wrapped around Kakashi. It was faint, but Kakashi's sense of smell was excellent and with each turn of his head he captured a breath of the delicate aroma still clinging to him. At first it had caused his stomach to dance with every intake, something excited and anticipatory twirling there. But he had grown used to the scent now, and it served only to fill him with warmth. He felt oddly at ease, even a little safe, wrapped up in something that wasn't his.

He was slightly worried that he would end up getting blood on Iruka's clothes. He didn't want there to be blood on Iruka's clothes. He didn't like the thought.

"Are you sure he's in there?" Kakashi asked, in an attempt to change the subject.

"You know the answer to that question," Pakkun replied, "now give me the answer to mine."

"I was wet," Kakashi snapped in exasperation.

"Wet?"

"Yes, wet."

Kakashi continued watching the door, and Pakkun was thankfully silent. Talking about it was forcing Kakashi to recognise the strange things his stomach did whenever he caught the scent of jasmine, or when he though about how the clothes he was wearing had been worn by Iruka.

There were no other entrances to the building. At least none that Kakashi could find. His target was still in there, had been for some time, and no doubt he had sold the information he had stolen already. That just made more targets for Kakashi, everyone who knew the identities of the ANBU had to die. That information couldn't escape Konoha.

"Kakashi," Pakkun said in a low, scolding voice, "why were you…"

"Shh!" Kakashi hissed, he was trying to think. He had to keep his thoughts on the mission and not on a certain chuunin back in Konoha. His target had managed to discover the identities of every ANBU that called Konoha home, that information would be priceless on the illegal market, and Kakashi had to get into that bounty station, kill everyone inside, and go home in one piece. There was no time to think about schoolteachers.

Kakashi whipped his head to the left. There was someone coming. Two people, with a modicum of control over their chakra. There was only a dead end further up the alley, nothing of interest but that door that led to the illegal bounty station. There was no other reason for the presence of the two individuals moving closer, they had to be heading for that door.

"Pakkun, disappear," Kakashi slid a kunai out of his weapons pouch and leant further over the edge of the rooftop, narrowing his eyes into the shade below. Without question, Pakkun vanished in a swirl of smoke, leaving Kakashi alone. The footsteps were growing louder, echoing in the narrow space. Kakashi waited until they were close enough for him to see, until the shadows failed to hide them. They appeared to be two criminals, not quite formidable enough to make it into his bingo book. Kakashi gripped his kunai in his left hand, waited until they were almost directly below him, and then jumped.

He swept out with his left hand before his feet hit the ground, aiming the blade of his weapon towards the smaller man's face, but he left his right side open. The smaller man's eyes widened comically when he saw the kunai rushing for his face, too surprised to make any attempt at defending himself.

The second man, taller and broader than his companion, was the one who acted. His knee connected violently with Kakashi's lower back before the kunai found its target. Kakashi arched his back with the flare of pain rushing along his spine from the impact. He had time to blink before an elbow slammed into his face, and painful spots exploded before his vision. He closed his eyes and fell backwards into the pavement. Unconscious.

Or so it seemed.

"Who the fuck is this shit?" one of them asked, and from where the voice had sounded from, Kakashi assumed that it was the smaller of the two, the one he had tried to slice apart.

Heavy footsteps vibrated through the cold, hard floor. Kakashi kept his eyes closed, relaxed every muscle in his body until he was nothing more than a boneless sack of flesh.

A sharp kick to his ribs brought his body off the ground by a fraction. Kakashi didn't make a sound, didn't flinch or show any sign that he had felt it at all. More footsteps, and then someone's cruel fingers were in his hair, pulling and angling his head so that they could get a look at his face.

Kakashi forcefully turned himself to jelly. If they tried to pull his mask off then he couldn't go acting on reflex to stop them. He'd just have to endure having his face bared, he could handle that, for a little while.

"Is that who I think it is?" the man holding his hair said; Kakashi could feel rancid breath on his cheek, he was infinitely sorry for his exceptional sense of smell.

"Who do you think it is?" his smaller companion asked, "and why the fuck was he trying to turn me into spaghetti with that kunai?"

The kunai being held loosely in Kakashi's left hand was kicked away. His fingers throbbed at the assault.

The fingers in his hair moved. They travelled briskly over his forehead and fumbled with the hitai-ate covering the Sharingan. The forehead protector was shoved impatiently upwards, revealing a closed eye and pale scar. A finger pressed into Kakashi's eyelid, and then Kakashi was looking into the heavy set face of the man who had elbowed him.

"Shit!" the man jerked away, Kakashi's eyelid fell closed again, everything was dark.

"Shit!" the man repeated; he was moving further away, "Sharingan Kakashi! It's Sharingan fucking Kakashi!"

"Don't be a fucktard," his companion groaned, "what the hell would Sharingan Kakashi be doing here?"

"Look at his fucking eye!"

Kakashi waited patiently as another hand poked rudely at his face, and then his eye was held open again.

There was a pitched yelp, and his eye fell shut. "Fuck! Fuck!"

"I just knocked Sharingan Kakashi out cold," the taller man said, Kakashi could hear the smile in his words, "Ha! Pick him up!"

"What?"

"Pick him up!" the man replied, "quick, this is too good an opportunity to pass up."

"Fuck off!" his companion replied, "I'm not touching him! He's Sharingan Kakashi! I do _not_ have a death wish!"

"He's unconscious!"

"For how long?" a sigh, "I'm getting out of here before he wakes up and turns us into sausages."

"Don't be a pussy!"

"I'm not being a pussy, my survival instincts are kicking in."

"Do you have any idea how much his head is worth on the illegal market?" the taller man asked, "that there is my retirement! There is no way I'm passing this opportunity up!"

"But… he's a monster! Are you insane? I don't like this."

Kakashi quelled the urge to frown at being called a monster. He wasn't a monster, was he? He was a damn good shinobi, but being called a monster was going a bit far.

"What's not to like?" came the reply, "Sharingan Kakashi, a fucking goldmine, is right here! The bounty station is right here! All we have to do is carry him in, collect our paycheque and leave. What's not to like?"

"It seems a little… convenient."

"I like convenience," the taller man huffed, "pick him up, I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth."

"I've told you," his companion hissed, "I'm not touching the fucker!"

"Fine," three loud, quick footsteps brought the taller man close to Kakashi, "I'll carry him, you knock on the door. Tell the guy inside that we're delivering a parcel for Kishimoto-sama."

"Who's Kishimoto-sama?"

"No one, idiot," two large hands were thrust unceremoniously under Kakashi's arms, "it's code, it'll get us in."

Kakashi was heaved off the ground and tossed over a broad shoulder. The wind was knocked out of him as he was juggled into a comfortable position, but he swallowed the grunt that built up in his throat. He heard the clangs of the other man knocking, and the slow scrape as the door opened.

"We've got a parcel for Kishimoto-sama."

"You'd better come in then."

Kakashi allowed himself a small smile beneath his mask as he was lugged out of the narrow alley and into the bounty station. The easy part was over, he'd gotten in.

oO0Oo

He had washed them, dried them, ironed them, folded them. Iruka had taken more care with Kakashi's clothes than he did with his own. The dark pile of material was sitting on his table, and Iruka had decided some time in the morning that the damn things were sentient, because the clothes were mocking him.

No matter where he went in the house, he was painfully aware of where those clothes were. It was as though the fabric had some sort of gravitational pull, and his eyes were the most affected. Every five minutes he would look up to stare at the neatly folded clothes, a dark patch in his light house. Only the previous day the owner of those clothes had been sat at his table, and ever since the jounin had left, Iruka had been strangely preoccupied.

The clothes were an odd addition to his house. They seemed out of place but they fitted right in. A welcome contradiction sitting on the table. They didn't belong there, but they added something to Iruka's house, something secure and comforting that Iruka felt had been missing from his home for a fair few years.

It was disconcerting to be getting attached to a pile of clothes.

But still, the clothes were mocking him. Every time he looked at them the image of Kakashi standing there, dripping and cold, was conjured up. The clothes were perfectly clean and dry, but not long ago they had been soaked and were hugging Kakashi's body tightly, leaving very little to the imagination. And Iruka had a damn good imagination.

Kakashi had said that he'd like to have tea with Iruka again. He might have just said that to be polite, but Iruka found himself hoping that wasn't the case. It had been awkward and the conversation had been a little stilted, but he was curious about Kakashi and wanted to find out more about him. He had always assumed that he was just another crazy jounin. After Naruto had been assigned to Kakashi's genin team Iruka had taken it upon himself to find out all he could about the Copy-nin. He hadn't learnt much, Kakashi's files were highly classified, even for someone with as much clearance as Iruka. But such security around a shinobi's files could only mean one thing: ANBU. And all ANBU were certifiable, it was a well known fact. Coupled with the fact that he was a genius, and the fact that he had been a chuunin at the age of six (Kakashi had told him so himself before the chuunin exams) Iruka could only conclude that Kakashi was short on marbles.

Maybe he _was_ short on marbles, but there was something about him that had peaked Iruka's interest. Kakashi was a deadly weapon, one of the best shinobi Konoha had, but Iruka had seen something fragile in the jounin while he was sitting at his table. For all of that frightening power and skill, Kakashi had something breakable about him, and Iruka's mothering instincts had been turned to the highest setting.

He supposed it was rather foolish to want to feel protective of Sharingan Kakashi, but Iruka couldn't help it. No doubt Kakashi would laugh if he ever found out, but Iruka was monumentally concerned about the fact that there probably wasn't anyone who had ever felt protective towards the man. Who would feel that way about someone who could rip your heart out before you had the time to blink? There were plenty of people who felt protective towards Iruka, much to his chagrin most of the time. People fussed over him and babied him, even his students who had cooed over his bleeding wrists in the forest, and Sakura who had wanted to walk him home. Genma, who had wanted him to take the day off in a very backwards way, and all of the parents who had come to visit him over the past few hours to make sure he hadn't wasted away in the couple of days since he had been stabbed. It was annoying, but it was nice to know that people worried. Who in their right mind would worry about someone as formidable and indestructible as the Copy-nin?

Iruka crossed the room and chewed the inside of his cheek as he peered at the pile of clothes. There was definitely something fragile about Kakashi, something no one took the time to look for. It was hidden behind a mask and a legend, but it was still there. And Iruka was determined to coax it out.

He swept up the clothes into his arms, holding them to his chest protectively. He told Kakashi he'd return his clothes when they were dry, well they were dry now. It was midday, so Kakashi wouldn't be at the memorial, or at least Iruka hoped not. He crossed his arms over his chest, hugging the dark material to him, and strode towards the door, planning how to go about inviting the jounin to tea for a second time.

oO0Oo

When the pink haired medic-nin skipped out of the hospital's main doors, Shinichi was waiting. He had been wandering around Konoha all morning, exploring the intricacies of the village, familiarising himself with every inch of every street. At midday he had strolled towards the hospital, and waited.

He hadn't waited long. Sakura had bounded out after a few minutes, and Shinichi had decided that it was time to start sweet talking the teenager. He wanted to milk her for information, but she wasn't going to feed him answers unless he earned her trust first.

"Sakura-san," he called out, painting a smile on his face and waving cheerfully.

"Oh, hello Shinichi-san," she said as she hopped to a halt and smiled warmly at him, "I'm sorry I haven't returned your umbrella yet, I was planning to. If you want I could go and get it now…"

"There's no need," he shook his head, "I'm not in any hurry to get it back. It isn't raining any more, so it's not like I need it."

Sakura's smile turned to one of relief and Shinichi took a small step closer to her, "do you work in the hospital?"

Sakura nodded, "yes, I'm training to be a medic-nin, although I had no idea how much hard work it would be."

"I'm sure you'll make an excellent medic," Shinichi smiled, and the girl blushed slightly.

"I hope so," she said, "Tsunade-sama is training me herself, so I can't be doing too badly."

Shinichi blinked. That was… impressive. The Hokage herself was training this girl, Shinichi would have to play this a little more carefully than he had planned. He was playing in a park of very dangerous children, and he had picked a girl close to the Godaime to squeeze intelligence out of.

"Are you on your lunch break?" Shinichi asked.

"Yes, _finally_," Sakura sighed, "sometimes I just want to leave everyone to bleed so that I can eat something."

Her eyes widened when she realised what she had just said, but Shinichi couldn't help it, he laughed.

"That was a little heartless of me," she said with a slight smile, "Shinichi-san, I was just going to grab something to eat from the sushi stand down the street, would you like to join me?"

Jackpot.

"I would love to Sakura-san," Shinichi smiled, and fell into step beside the kunoichi with a genuine smile dancing on his face.

oO0Oo

"What have you brought for me?" a deep, rolling voice asked from somewhere to Kakashi's right.

"I caught a pretty big fish," the man carrying him said cheerfully, shifting Kakashi's weight over his shoulder.

"Drop him here," the deep voice said impatiently, "let's take a look."

Kakashi was tossed carelessly to the hard floor, like a doll carelessly cast aside. He remained perfectly still as he took in his surroundings with every sense but his sight. The two criminals he had come across outside were a couple of feet to his side, the man with the deep voice, who was probably the man in charge, was walking towards him, his steps awkward, with a lopsided gait. There were two other people across the room, and then the man at the door. Kakashi didn't think there was anyone else in the building.

"Oh my god!" someone across the room cried, Kakashi thought he recognised that voice, "what is _he_ doing here?"

Kakashi _did_ recognise him, that was the voice of his target.

"You recognise him?" the deep voice asked.

"That's Hatake Kakashi," his target strangled out.

"Really," the man with the deep voice knelt down beside him, "that's impressive. Don't worry, he's dead."

"No he isn't," the tall man who had carried Kakashi into the bounty station said smugly, "we caught him alive."

"What?" everyone in the room suddenly leapt away from Kakashi's still form, "he's alive? What the fuck is the matter with you? I pay for corpses, only an idiot would bring the Copy-nin here without killing him first!"

"Relax," the tall man sighed, "if you're so nervous about it, just kill him yourself."

"Like I said," the deep voice growled, "I pay for corpses. If I kill him, you don't get paid."

"What?"

"Just hurry up and slit his throat will you," the man replied, "I swear, you are a fucking imbecile."

"No need to get crabby," the tall man's footsteps brought him close to Kakashi's head, "I just want to see what he looks like first."

Even with his eyes closed, Kakashi could sense the hands hovering over his face. He waited until blunt fingers touched the edge of his mask before he moved. His hands whipped up, snatching the fingers that were eager to tear away his mask. He flicked his eyes open, both of them, and the man who had carried him into the bounty station screamed as Kakashi bent back his fingers, breaking each and every one with an audible crunch.

"Don't touch the mask," Kakashi warned.

Everyone in the room turned deathly pale.

oO0Oo

Konoha was glistening. The midday sun had failed to dry the puddles and the water droplets that sparkled across the village from the rain of the previous day. Everything shimmered and twinkled, countless jewels adorning the Hidden Leaf.

"Thank you for inviting me to lunch," Shinichi smiled down at Sakura, "I don't know anyone in Konoha apart from you, it's a little lonely."

"It was no problem at all," Sakura grinned back as they wandered back towards the hospital, "I enjoyed it. Maybe we could do it again?"

"I'd like that," Shinichi replied. He hadn't really learnt anything of Kakashi from her. They talked about her patients, her training, her mother's penchant for plush toys. But nothing that could aid Shinichi in his task. He couldn't rush things though, it would take time.

"Huh?" Sakura halted suddenly; Shinichi took one more step before he turned back with a frown and looked at the kunoichi. She was peering towards the apartment block to their left.

Shinichi followed her gaze, and found himself looking at the shinobi he had seen in the woods, the schoolteacher.

"Iruka-sensei," Sakura greeted him as he exited the apartment building and approached them, "what are you doing here? Were you visiting Kakashi-sensei?"

Shinichi felt something grow taught in his spine. He swallowed a deep breath and glanced up at the apartment block. The Copy-nin lived there, in one of those apartments. He could be there right now, behind one of those windows. Goose bumps erupted all over his flesh.

"Hello Sakura," the teacher smiled. He was clutching some black material to his chest as though it was the most precious object in the world, "yes, I was, but he's not in." He looked incredibly disappointed. Shinichi scrutinised the man. Maybe this teacher was close to Kakashi. Shinichi made a note to find out as much as he could about Umino Iruka.

"No, he's on a mission," Sakura replied, "Tsunade-sama sent him out yesterday."

The teacher's face dropped, his emotions were written over his face so blatantly Shinichi almost laughed. The sap might as well have been wearing a neon sign over his head. He was obviously upset over the news that Kakashi was away, it was rather endearing, but quite pathetic.

"Did you want him for something important?" Sakura asked.

"Not really," the teacher smiled, but the disappointment was still swaying behind his eyes, "I just wanted to return his clothes."

Sakura's face lit up with wry suspicion, a smirk quivered on her lips, "really? Iruka-sensei, why do you have Kakashi-sensei's clothes?"

Shinichi's eyebrows quirked. This could be interesting.

"Well, because…" the schoolteacher frowned when he saw the expression on her face, "Sakura! What are you trying to say?"

"Nothing, nothing," she giggled, "oh, this is Shinichi-san," she said, indicating Shinichi, "Shinichi-san, this is Iruka-sensei, he was one of my teacher's at the Academy."

"Nice to meet you," Shinichi smiled and bowed slightly.

Iruka opened his mouth to speak when Sakura interrupted him, "he should be back sometime today or tomorrow," she chuckled, "you'll be able to return his clothes then, Iruka-sensei."

Iruka scowled, "he was wet."

"Was he?" Sakura grinned slyly.

"Yes," Iruka bristled, "he needed a change of clothes."

"It was a good thing you were there then, Iruka-sensei."

Iruka narrowed his eyes in warning and then smiled at Shinichi, "it was nice to meet you, Shinichi-san." With that, the teacher turned on his heels and stalked away.

Sakura giggled, "wait till I see Kakashi. Knowing him, something perverted must have happened. I bet he's corrupting Iruka-sensei."

Shinichi swallowed, his veins were pumping with adrenaline at the mention of the Copy-nin, "who's Kakashi?"

Sakura blinked, and then smiled sheepishly, "oh, he was my genin team's jounin sensei. Hatake Kakashi. I don't really see much of him anymore," she sighed softly and looked up at the apartment building, "I get the feeling he's avoiding me."

"Why do you say that?" Shinichi asked, putting great effort into looking sympathetic and not bubbling with glee at the route their conversation was taking. So she was one of Kakashi's students, who better to gain information from?

She shrugged as they turned back into the street and continued walking, "I don't know. Whenever we pass on the street, he just waves and says 'yo' but he never stops to talk to me or anything. It's like he doesn't really want to know me now that he's not my teacher."

"I'm sure that's not the case," Shinichi soothed, "Hatake Kakashi, that name rings a bell."

She smiled slightly, "he's kind of famous, I guess."

"Famous?" Shinichi raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah," Sakura said with a sigh, "we didn't really know how famous he was at first. But then we had this mission, and this missing-nin from Hidden Mist attacked us."

Shinichi's blood turned to ice. Sakura's voice seemed to echo in his head.

"Kakashi-sensei completely kicked his ass," she grinned, "but only after he got caught in the water prison technique, and Sasuke and Naruto had to save him."

Shinichi's legs stopped of their own accord. He suddenly felt very heavy. Sakura paused a couple of steps ahead, and turned back to him with a question in her green eyes.

"The missing-nin," Shinichi said quietly, "what was his name?"

Sakura frowned for a moment, "um, Zabuza… Momochi Zabuza."

Shinichi's heart felt like it weighed too much, each beat reverberated throughout his body, making him shudder. This girl had been one of the last people to see his brother alive. She would have seen him die. She might even have been involved in his death.

No, no she wouldn't have stood a chance against Zabuza. She had simply been there, watched. Shinichi's fingers were itching, and Sakura was watching him with concern. Villagers passed them by, weaving around him as he stood perfectly motionless. He should move, say something. His utter stillness was suspicious, but he was too heavy, his limbs felt like lead.

"Shinichi-san?"

"Sakura!"

A white blur sped across the street. Shinichi couldn't look away from Sakura, from the stupid little medic who had watched his brother die. But the young man who had called her came into Shinichi's vision when he skidded to a halt beside the pink haired kunoichi. He was a medic, clothed in the white robes and hat of the Leaf medic-nin.

"Sakura, you have to return to the hospital," he said hastily, "Team Gai has returned, Hokage-sama wants your assistance immediately."

Sakura turned to say something to Shinichi, some kind of apology or farewell, but Shinichi wasn't listening. All he could hear was Sakura's voice echoing in his head.

_Kakashi-sensei completely kicked his ass._

Shinichi clenched his fists so tightly, his fingernails made crimson crescents in his palms.

oO0Oo

Blood spattered, wet and warm across Kakashi's cheek. A droplet of red clung to his eyelashes, his target crumpled to the floor, his throat open to the world and pouring blood down his chest.

If there had been some sort of fight involved, some sort of challenge, then Kakashi might have felt a little more justified. But there was no fight to speak of. The only individuals there who could possibly even hope to defend themselves against Kakashi were the two criminals who had carried him into the bounty station. So far Kakashi had ignored them, he didn't need to kill them to complete his mission, and they stayed mostly out of his way as he stained the walls with blood.

The kunai left Kakashi's hand and lanced through the air. With a wet thunk the blade cracked into the head of the man with the deep voice. Another man started running for the exit, just as the man at the door came running in. They collided with each other in the doorway and slammed into the floor.

The two criminals stood against the wall, watching the scene in abstract horror, trying to blend into the wall, sink out of the miserable little room and away from the carnage.

There wasn't really much carnage. Kakashi watched the two in the doorway struggle to get to their feet. He felt vaguely ill, but he pushed the feeling away, so far into him until it wasn't there any more. He strode across the room, gripped the head of the first man, and jerked his head to the side, snapping his neck. The remaining man screeched as the body slumped to the floor. He turned around, tripped over the corpse, and launched himself into the shadowy corridor, towards the exit.

Kakashi whipped out four shuriken; small, glinting stars, two in each hand. He didn't see them hit their target in the shadows, but he heard the wet sound of blades puncturing flesh, and the heavy drop of the man hitting the floor.

That had been a piece of cake. He hated it when it was easy. Killing someone who presented a challenge left no room for guilt. Kakashi was comfortable with 'kill or be killed.' He wasn't comfortable with 'kill, kill, kill.'

He could hear his father sighing.

He turned to the two criminals braced against the wall. There was no need for them to die, he had killed everyone who his target might have divulged Konoha's secrets to. Those two were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

They were looking at Kakashi like he was a demon come to life.

"Boo," Kakashi said.

The smaller one hit his head on the wall as he tried to back away even further. It would have been funny, but Kakashi wasn't in the mood to laugh. He had just killed four civilians, men who didn't have a hope in hell's chance against him.

He checked the body of the man in the corridor, just to be sure he was dead, before he left. The afternoon was filled with sad, azure eyes, and tired sighs. The only comfort Kakashi had was knowing that he had completed his mission for the sake of his village. He'd done his duty. He was a shinobi, not a monster.

When he turned his head, he caught a whisper of jasmine. He smiled.

Home was calling.

oO0Oo

Iruka placed the pile of clothes carefully on the table once again, and collapsed onto his couch. His eyes remained on the dark material, recalling Kakashi's figure sitting in the chair, those pale hands, decorated with a spider's web of silvery scars.

He had no doubt that Kakashi would return in one piece from his mission. Worrying was pointless, and Iruka really had no right to worry. He hadn't earned the right to worry about Kakashi, they hardly knew each other. The only thing that connected them was Naruto, and their duty as shinobi. Iruka refused to worry.

But there was a tiny little piece of him that was mildly upset that he hadn't known Kakashi had been sent away. He felt ridiculous for feeling that way, Kakashi didn't owe him anything, he certainly didn't need to inform Iruka whenever he had a mission. But it would have been nice to have a goodbye, as inappropriate as it was to want one. The fact that Kakashi had just up and gone, and Iruka had been none the wiser, made him nervous. He didn't know why.

Yet again, the clothes were mocking him.

If Kakashi never came back from his mission, then all Iruka would have of the man would be that pile of clothes. A heap of fabric that had once been filled with Kakashi's lithe frame. How cruel would that be, to have a shadow of someone Iruka had hardly known sitting on his table? A reminder of a stranger who Iruka had wanted to get to know.

He was nervous because he had only just decided that he wanted to get to know Kakashi, and if that chance was snatched away just as he had made the decision, Iruka would be at a complete loss. He would never be able to learn anything about Kakashi if Kakashi failed to come home.

Iruka kicked his heel into the couch and threw himself to his feet. Kakashi would be home when he completed his mission, simple as that. Tsunade-sama wouldn't send him on a mission he couldn't handle. Iruka doubted there _was_ a mission that Kakashi couldn't handle. So he wouldn't worry, because there was no need to.

He snatched up the clothes from the table, marched into the kitchen, opened the cupboard and tossed the clothes in with the instant ramen packets. The clothes were mocking him, making him think crazy thoughts and worry about someone who was practically a stranger.

He slammed the cupboard door. Out of sight out of mind.

Iruka peered out of the window and wondered when Kakashi would get back. 


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

Sometime over the last hour, the scent of jasmine had faded. Kakashi missed the fragrance, he felt as though he had left something behind, something important. Without the scent, he felt slightly hollow. There was a strange longing sitting in his chest, and he wasn't sure if it was for the smell, or for something entirely different.

Whatever it was he was longing for, it set a fire beneath his feet and sent him flying swiftly through the branches. The sun would be setting soon, and he wanted to be at home before then, with familiar things. The lack of jasmine had him feeling unsure of himself. He felt unbalanced, like he had forgotten something, like there was something not quite right.

The branch quivered slightly when his feet touched the wood. He stopped dead, listening to the rustle of the leaves as the branch swayed beneath him. There was another sound, another smell, somewhere behind him. He turned to look over his shoulder, to peer into the deepening shadows below. The swaying of the branch ceased, the rustling died down, there was a prickling on the back of Kakashi's neck. Someone was watching him.

He moved to pull a kunai from the holster on his leg, when the shadows below shifted slightly. It was a fleeting moment before Kakashi saw that it wasn't the shadows moving, but the person watching him.

Kakashi left the kunai in its holster, and held perfectly still, his single eye fixed firmly on the shinobi below. It wasn't a Leaf shinobi, the man below wore a mask of red and white, with the symbol of Hidden Mist carved into the forehead. His long blonde hair was tied in a braid, and wrapped around his neck like a scarf, but other than that there were no distinguishing marks, no ways to identify the man. But hunter-nin were not meant to have identities.

Kakashi allowed the tension to drain out of him. He didn't trust many people, and he certainly didn't trust foreign shinobi, but hunter-nin were in a league of their own. They hunted their own, they paid no mind to shinobi of other countries. No one liked having missing-nin roaming their territory, so hunter-nin were practically given free reign. But Kakashi was less inclined to take a hunter-nin at face value, or should that be mask value? Not after his encounter with Haku and Zabuza.

But the shinobi below him merely inclined his head slightly before backing into the shadows of the forest. Kakashi watched the hunter-nin disappear, he waited in silence until the foreign shinobi's chakra faded. His mind was buzzing, slotting information together. There were Hidden Mist techniques being thrown around Konoha, a strange shinobi with a penchant for drowning dogs, and now a hunter-nin roaming far to close to Hidden Leaf for Kakashi's liking.

He'd have to inform Tsunade. There was a missing-nin from Hidden Mist hiding in their territory. He turned back towards his village and leapt for the next branch, the fire under his feet burning hotter than before.

oO0Oo

Iruka dropped his chopsticks into his now empty bowl, and sighed. It wasn't a satisfied sigh. He missed Naruto; eating ramen without the hyperactive boy was strangely unfulfilling. He hoped that wherever Naruto was, he was at least being treated to ramen occasionally. It would be nice to think that Naruto missed Iruka when he ate ramen as much as Iruka missed him. But Iruka wasn't that much of an optimist.

"Missing Naruto?"

Iruka gave Teuchi, the owner of Ichiraku Ramen, a small smile. "How did you guess?"

Teuchi shrugged, "I miss the kid too. He was my best customer. You only started coming in here alone since Naruto left, you always used to bring him with you."

Iruka chuckled and dropped his chin into his hand as he leant into the counter, "at least my wallet's getting a vacation. Naruto could have bankrupted me quite happily."

"He'll be back," Teuchi smiled.

Iruka nodded, "yeah, but it's lonely without him."

"You have other students," Teuchi said as he reached over for Iruka's empty bowl, "and I'm sure you have more than enough friends who would eat ramen with you if you asked."

Iruka smiled, but it was the sort of smile that would crack if worn for too long. Truthfully, there wasn't really anyone but Naruto to eat ramen with him. He knew plenty of people, almost every one in the village in fact, but none of them were close friends. Being friendly with someone and being friends with someone were two entirely different things. He couldn't imagine inviting any of them to share a bowl of ramen with him. And he didn't really want to eat ramen with anyone but Naruto.

"Thanks Teuchi-san," Iruka sighed as he slid off the stool. The sun had set behind Hokage Mountain while Iruka had been eating. Konoha had come to life with softly glowing lanterns and bright lights from wide windows as the stars peeked down on them from above.

Iruka wouldn't be the only person going home to an empty house, but he couldn't help but feel that he was the only person who had no other choice. Other people could seek out their friends if they were lonely, they could just show up unannounced at a friend's place, or invite someone over for something to drink. Iruka wasn't close enough to anyone to just show up at their home. If he dropped by at Suzume's house, or Genma's apartment, they would immediately think that something was wrong, because Iruka wasn't close enough to any of them to just turn up with no reason.

Iruka came to the conclusion that his best friend was a teenage boy who was possibly hundreds of miles away, and wouldn't be coming back any time soon. The thought almost made him laugh. It was a sorry state of affairs for someone who knew so many people to feel quite so lonely. But it was probably just the ramen making him feel that way. He still wasn't used to eating ramen without Naruto. He doubted he ever would be.

oO0Oo

Shinichi slipped silently through the window and into one of the brightly lit hospital corridors. He was being slightly more bold than he had thought he would be, but he was getting impatient. Sakura's words had been festering in his mind ever since she had left him that afternoon.

"_Kakashi-sensei completely kicked his ass."_

She'd said it with a smile on her face. Like it was something to brag about, something to reminisce about over saké. There had been amusement in her voice, and in that moment, Shinichi had hated her.

Which was why he was currently slinking through the hospital. His thoughts about the little medic had taken an interesting turn. His need to punish Kakashi had increased with her amusement, and sometime between then and now he had fallen upon the perfect way to find out who was closest to the Copy-nin.

He peered around the corner, at the door further down the corridor marked "private." There were no wards on this floor, just offices and laboratories, and that room that Shinichi could only conclude held the medical records of Konoha's shinobi.

The fastest way to find out who Kakashi cared most for: to find out who his next of kin was.

He waited for a minute or two, listened for approaching footsteps or voices. But all he could hear was the beating of his heart thumping in his ears. If he was caught wandering around, or caught pilfering the files in that room, then he would be in for a world of trouble. He wasn't the type to act on impulse, to leap into a plan without considering all of the angles, but he was growing impatient. He wanted revenge on Hatake Kakashi, he thought that he could take his time, wait until the perfect moment, gather as much information on the man as he could, but Sakura's words had set him on edge. They were eating away at him. He wasn't prepared to wait.

He slipped silently around the corner, ears pricked, until his fingers fastened around the handle of the door. With one final glance down the corridor, he stepped swiftly into the dark room, and clicked the door shut.

oO0Oo

Kakashi wandered into the hospital, flicking through Icha Icha Paradise since he had nothing better to do with his hands thanks to the pocketless nature of Iruka's trousers. The ANBU stationed at Hokage Tower had informed him that Tsunade was at the hospital, and Kakashi thought the presence of a hunter-nin in the forest around the village would be something she'd want to know about as soon as possible.

He rested his elbow on the nurses' station and smiled down at the nurse sitting there. She didn't look impressed in the least, and Kakashi always felt slightly uncomfortable around the hospital staff, more than a few of them had seen his face. But he carried on smiling regardless.

"I need to speak to Hokage-sama," he said, "do you know where I can find her?"

The nurse pursed her lips in irritation, "she's performing surgery on Maito Gai at the moment. You'll have to wait."

Kakashi felt something in his chest sink, "what happened to Gai?"

"I'm not at liberty to say, Hatake-san," the nurse replied as she went to turn away from Kakashi.

Kakashi didn't move, he was stuck in place, his mind running over the fact that Gai was in surgery. Kakashi wasn't worried, Gai would be fine, he was always fine. Konoha's Green Beast would outlive everyone. But still, the sinking feeling was not going away.

The nurse glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and sighed, "he was poisoned," she grumbled, "his team is in the waiting area if you want to talk to them."

Kakashi nodded and wandered past the nurses' station. His throat felt dry with the harsh smell of disinfectant. He hated hospitals, but he seemed to frequent them often enough. He hated the clinical white walls and slick tiles of the floor. The chairs in the waiting area were never comfortable and the few potted plants dotted around seemed like fake attempts to turn the hospital into something that it wasn't.

He found Gai's team waiting silently near the window. Tenten was lying across some of the seats, her face hidden in her arms as she slept. Lee, a perfect double of Gai at that age, was hunched over in his chair, his face was stained with tears that he had long since stopped shedding. Neji was standing in the corner, looking the same as always, except his mouth was a thin line, and there were dark circles under his eyes.

Kakashi put his book away as he neared them, and raised his hand in greeting.

"Yo."

"Kakashi-sensei," Lee gasped when he looked up, "what are you doing here?"

"I was looking for Tsunade," Kakashi replied, "she's working on Gai, right?"

Lee nodded and looked back to the floor, "Gai-sensei will pull through. He will not be defeated by such a dishonourable attack."

"What happened to him?" Kakashi asked. But Lee's lips had started to tremble, Kakashi doubted he would be able to tell him anything.

"It was some sort of poison," Neji said suddenly, "we were attacked by a group of S-class criminals. One of them spat some sort of substance at Gai."

"Nothing happened at first," Lee croaked, "but after a while, Gai-sensei couldn't breath. There were blisters all over his skin, and he was in a lot of pain."

"He's been in surgery since this afternoon," Neji said, "we don't know anything more."

Kakashi nodded. If it was just poison then Tsunade would fix him up. He'd be fine. He _had_ to be fine. Gai was going to outlive everybody. He'd be at Kakashi's funeral, spouting some crap about Springtime and Manliness and the Heroic Deeds of his Eternal Rival while sobbing like an Italian widow. He'd be fine.

Kakashi sank into a chair next to Lee. He needed to wait for Tsunade anyway.

"Mind if I wait with you?" he asked.

Lee's wail practically rattled the windows. Tenten jumped to attention at the sound, and Lee proceeded to cry with more gusto that even Gai could manage. He threw himself into Kakashi's arms, heaving with tears.

Kakashi shared an uncomfortable look with Neji, wondering how he would extricate himself from the sobbing boy. But Lee was muttering something about compassion and concern, and how good it was of Kakashi to want to stay. So Kakashi awkwardly patted the boy on the back as his shoulder grew damper and damper.

Lee was overreacting. He had to be, because Gai would be fine.

oO0Oo

Shinichi slotted the drawer back into place and pulled open the next. Whoever was responsible for the filing system of the hospital needed to be shot. There were countless records stored within the cramped room. Shelves upon shelves of papers, boxes filled with dusty records, filing cabinets stuffed with files. It seemed like he had been combing through them for hours. There was no window within the room, so he had no idea of the time. The only light he had to work by was a single bulb flickering dully overhead, casting a sickly light over the room.

He heard the door handle turn a split second before the door opened. He slipped soundlessly between a filing cabinet and stack of dusty cardboard boxes, breathing life to the dust gathered there with his movement.

"What is it you're looking for Shizune-sama?" a male voice questioned.

"The files of the deceased are in here, right?" came the reply, "I need the file for Shiranui Maiha."

"Wouldn't it be easier to access the files on the computer?" the male medic asked as Shinichi pressed himself further behind the boxes.

"She died about twenty years ago, the files on the system don't go back that far," she said as drawers were pulled open and papers were shuffled, "she was poisoned with a blister agent, similar to the one Maito Gai was attacked with. Tsunade wants to see the files."

"The filing system in here has gone to pot since Sandaime's death," the medic huffed, "everything got screwed up while Jiraiya-sama was looking for Godaime-sama, no one's taken the time to sort this shit tip out."

"We need those files," the woman almost yelled, "we don't have an antidote for what's affecting Gai, we'll need to create one from scratch if Tsunade-sama can't extract all of the poison from his system!"

"Alright, I'm looking!"

Shinichi clenched his fists and shrank as far into the shadows as he could go. That would teach him to have a little patience, he could only pray that they didn't sense his presence squashed behind the cabinets and boxes. He could always tell them that he had suffered a head injury and had thought he had found the bathroom.

It looked like he was in for a long night.

oO0Oo

Iruka would prefer mornings if they started a little later. He didn't switch the alarm clock off, he threw it across the room, but it failed to quiet down even as it bounced off the wall. Iruka fumbled for the kunai under his pillow and without looking up from beneath the covers, he threw the weapon across the room. The alarm gave one last pathetic wail before silence reigned again.

He sat up when he realised that he'd have to buy a new alarm clock.

He had nothing to do. He hadn't realised how long a day could be until he had been forced to take the day off. He wasn't sure if his enforced sick leave included today, but he couldn't sit around with nothing to do. He liked being busy, he liked working, he liked being needed, being useful. This sitting around lark was driving him up the wall.

He kicked the covers off with a frustrated growl and stumbled towards the bathroom. He was going into work today, he was going to teach his class since it was his job, and nothing short of an army of angry Tsunades was going to stop him. He could only imagine the grief Konohamaru was giving his poor substitute teacher. The class was probably in chaos. No one had asked him about the curriculum, did anyone even know that they were meant to be moving on to studying common doujutsu? The entire timetable was probably up in the air.

His wrists felt fine anyway. There was only a slight ache whenever he rotated his wrists, that was hardly something for people to fret over. He missed his class. He wasn't exactly a valuable shinobi, but he was essential to his students. They made him feel important, like he was doing something essential for the village. He _was_ doing something essential, he was training the future of Konoha, and he hated being forced to sit at home, bored out of his skull, while his students' impressionable minds rotted away.

Perhaps he was being a tad melodramatic, but he was going to die of boredom, so he was going to work. If they wanted him to stay home they'd have to tie him up with a squad of ANBU at the door. He was a teacher. He was _going_ to teach.

oO0Oo

The slamming of the door jerked Shinichi out of the doze he had fallen into. He was crouched tightly into the cramped corner, hidden from the rest of the room. Those two had been rifling through files for hours and hours it seemed. The woman becoming more and more agitated with the passing of time. Papers had been hastily thrown back and forth, drawers had been slammed, boxes had been decimated in her wrath. But now the room was empty but for Shinichi.

He was only slightly surprised that he hadn't been discovered. His speciality had always been stealth, no one had ever been able to find him if he was determined not to let them. Even Zabuza had had trouble locating him if he let Shinichi out of his sight for more than half a minute.

His knees cracked when he stood. The sound seemed deafening in the sudden silence. He had no idea how long he had been crouched there, but his body felt stiff and sluggish. If it had taken those medics so long to find one specific file, it would take him forever.

With a groan he slid out from behind the filing cabinet, kicking files that had been dropped to the floor in haste as he moved back into the centre of the room. The place was a mess of paper; it was as though a tornado had torn through the area and danced with the paperwork.

He glanced around at the mess, and kicked out at a few more of the loose files, when a name grabbed his eyes.

_Hatake Sakumo._

Shinichi was still for a few seconds, just staring at the name. The file looked old, it was one of the files the two medics had found and instantly discarded. Two decades old, falling apart, the single name was faded somewhat. Shinichi scooped it up, and with slight reverence, he flipped it open.

There was a small picture attached to the papers with a paperclip. Hatake Sakumo had hair the same colour as Kakashi's, silvery grey, and almost as wild. His face was remarkably pretty, he was beautiful without being feminine, but there was a frown darkening his features. He looked harsh. There was something dangerous about him. The first page was filled with vital statistics, but at the bottom of the sheet, in dark bold letters was the name of Sakumo's next of kin.

_Hatake Kakashi._

Whoever this Sakumo was, he had sustained a great many injuries over the span of his life. The file was thick and heavy with his medical history, but the cause of death was what made Shinichi's jaw drop.

He had killed himself. In the family garden. His body had been found by his seven year old son, Kakashi.

Shinichi flipped the file closed and chewed on his lip, his thoughts were working faster than he could keep up with. What kind of effect would that have on a seven year old? Would it still affect Kakashi now? Was it something he could use to cause the great Copy-nin pain? No one close to Shinichi had ever committed suicide before, but he couldn't imagine that it would be pleasant, for someone you care for to make the conscious decision to leave you.

He dropped the file and waded through the mess. His resolve had returned. He had the perfect plan. Find out who Kakashi's next of kin was, kill them, and make it look like they had committed suicide. He could only imagine how the Copy-nin would take it, and it brought a gleeful smile to Shinichi's face.

oO0Oo

Iruka strode into the hospital like a man with a purpose. His face was set into an angry scowl, and when he slammed his hands onto the desk of the nurses' station, he was greeted with a wide eyed orderly and a timid looking nurse.

"I need someone to give me a clean bill of health," he said tersely. He had practically been kicked out of his classroom by his students. Shikamaru had been lounging in his seat, flopped lazily over the desk. Who would expect Shikamaru to teach his class? They would never get any work done, they'd spend each day staring at the clouds through the windows!

Shikamaru had coolly informed him that he was under strict orders not to let Iruka back to work until he had been given a clean bill of health. His students had been more adamant than their substitute teacher, and had promptly shepherded him through the door, slamming it in his face.

A clean bill of health? Fine. He'd be back at the Academy by lunch time, no matter who he had to threaten.

"Um," the nurse swallowed, "of course Iruka-sensei, someone will be over to see you shortly, if you would like to take a seat in the waiting area."

Iruka huffed the affirmative and stormed past the nurses' station. The entire village was conspiring to keep him bored silly. It had to be a new method of torture, he wouldn't put it past Ibiki to bribe the villagers to use Iruka as a guinea pig for his cruel experiments.

He slowed to a standstill when he noticed the shock of grey hair shooting up from behind a tall potted plant. His entire body froze, even his heart within his chest. That was Kakashi; was he injured? He couldn't be hurt too badly or he wouldn't be in the waiting room, he'd have been rushed away to be treated. Iruka was relieved and suddenly terrified at the same time. Should he go over there? He wanted to go and talk to Kakashi, only he had absolutely nothing to say to the man.

He moved agonisingly slowly, until he had rounded the plant and was looking at Kakashi's profile. His eyes were having difficulty translating the scene before him. Beneath the window opposite Iruka, Neji and Tenten were propped up against one another, fast asleep. Neji had his arms folded across his chest, and even sleeping he sat with perfect posture, his chin resting on his chest. Tenten's head was resting on his shoulder, she was practically curled up around him.

And to the right, Kakashi was sitting slouched in his chair, with the sleeping form of Lee sprawled across him, drooling on Kakashi's flak jacket. Kakashi's arm was snaked around the teenager, resting gently on his back. It had to be the most endearing thing Iruka had ever seen. He could only blink at the sight, a smile pulling at his lips.

Kakashi looked up at Iruka. He looked tired, the chuunin could clearly see a shadow beneath Kakashi's one visible eye. The jounin looked back down at Lee before his eye crinkled in amusement at Iruka, and he pressed a finger to his masked lips, asking for silence.

Iruka nodded and walked softly towards him. He stopped smiling when he remembered where he was. He was in hospital, and it looked like the group he had just joined had been waiting there for quite a while.

"What happened?" Iruka asked in a whisper as he lowered himself into the seat beside Kakashi, "did something happen to Gai-sensei?" It was the only possible explaination for the presence of everyone around him.

Kakashi nodded, "he was poisoned. He's been in surgery since yesterday afternoon."

Iruka's eyes widened. That long? It must be really serious for so much time to have passed with no news reaching them. Kakashi looked as though the same thought had crossed his mind. He rubbed at his visible eye tiredly. Lee mumbled something in his sleep and snuggled further into Kakashi's chest. Iruka's heart wanted to burst at the sight, another smile threatened to overtake his face, but Kakashi looked so tired that it was quickly squashed.

"You look exhausted Kakashi-sensei," Iruka said softly, "when was the last time you got any sleep?"

Kakashi breathed in deeply, Lee mumbled something incoherent with the movement. "The night before my mission I guess."

Iruka balked, "that was days ago," he said, "you should go home and get some rest. I'll let you know if there's any news."

Kakashi shook his head, "I need to speak to Tsunade anyway," he sighed, "what are you doing here Iruka-sensei? Are you hurt?"

"Huh?" Iruka smiled and shook his head, "no, I just want someone to tell me I can go back to work."

Kakashi chuckled lightly, "you should enjoy the time off while you can."

"I don't like having nothing to do," Iruka admitted sheepishly, "I feel a little useless."

"You're far from useless Iruka-sensei," Kakashi breathed. Iruka felt something judder in his stomach. There might have been a baby bird in there, fluttering its wings and twittering insanely.

"Are… are you injured, Kakashi-sensei?" he asked. He had just noticed the dry smear of blood across the jounin's mask. He did a quick assessment of Kakashi, everything seemed to be in its proper place, but there were spatterings of blood across his flak jacket, and a deep stain on his thigh.

"No," Kakashi replied, "I'm sorry, I've got blood on your clothes."

Iruka felt his breath catch. Kakashi was still wearing his clothes. Those were _his_ clothes wrapped around the jounin's body. Iruka looked the man over again, with something hot and slightly possessive bubbling inside him. He liked the fact that Kakashi was wearing his clothes, but he couldn't say why. He had the sudden urge to join Lee and rest his head on Kakashi chest, but he shook the notion from his mind, feeling like an idiot.

"Don't worry about it," Iruka said, "so long as it's not your blood. It's not, is it?"

"No," Kakashi said after a weary breath, "it's not mine."

Something like relief seeped into Iruka through every pore in his body, "good."

"Ne," Lee mumbled in his sleep, "Gai-sensei…"

"He looks comfortable," Iruka smiled fondly as he looked down at Lee. A slight spike of envy shot through him, but he ignored it.

"_He_ might be," Kakashi said in amusement, "but _I_ can no longer feel my ass."

Iruka bit back a bark of laughter just as Lee blinked groggily.

"Whu..?" Ever so slowly, Lee sat up. When he came face to face with the person he had been using as a pillow, his eyes went as wide as saucers.

"Kakashi-sensei!" he yelped, "I apologise, you should have woken me up, I…" his face reddened when he saw the damp puddle of drool marring Kakashi's chest, "ack! I am so very sorry Kakashi-sensei!"

Iruka bit his lip to prevent his laughter from escaping as the teenager frantically rubbed at the wet patch, firing off apologies as Kakashi tried to fend Lee off him.

A few feet away, Neji raised his head and frowned at the commotion his team mate was causing. Tenten remained oblivious, and Neji cast her an exasperated glance when he noticed how she was snuggling into him, but he made no move to peel her off him.

Just as Lee proclaimed that he would wash Kakashi's flak jacket for him, and made a valiant attempt to remove said item of clothing from Kakashi's person, a set of doors across the room banged loudly open, and Tsunade strode briskly into the waiting area.

Everyone jumped to their feet, including Iruka. Kakashi simply sat back in his seat and looked up at the Hokage tiredly but expectantly.

Questions were fired like bullets, Lee's the loudest of them all. Tenten had come around fairly quickly, she looked like she might throw herself at Tsunade, while Neji merely frowned and waited silently.

"Shut up!" Tsunade yelled as Sakura shuffled to a stop beside her. Just looking at the two women made Iruka feel exhausted. Sakura looked ready to drop at a moments notice, and Tsunade, though still unnaturally young, looked much older.

"Is he alright?" Tenten squeaked.

"He's alive, if that's what you mean," Tsunade snapped, "I removed all traces of the poison, and limited the damage already done to his internal organs, there's nothing more I can do."

"But…" Lee's eyes were glistening, "he'll be alright, right?"

Tsunade sighed; she seemed to wilt slightly, "we'll be better placed to ascertain the extent of the damage when he wakes up. He's in room 418A, you can see him if you like, but he's still unconscious."

Like a shot, Lee and Tenten were off. Neji held Tsunade's eye contact for a while longer before following them at a more reserved pace. But by Neji's standards, he was sprinting.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Tsunade demanded once she had looked to Iruka.

"Huh? Oh," he swallowed, his problems suddenly seemed very trivial, "my uh… my wrists."

Tsunade clicked her tongue, "Sakura, check him over then go home and get some sleep." She glared down at Kakashi who was still sitting comfortably, "what about you brat? You wanted to see me?"

"Yeah," Kakashi floated to his feet, "I need to talk to you in private."

Tsunade didn't wait for more, she spun on her heels and marched away. Kakashi strolled after her, smiling at Sakura as he went.

"Morning Kakashi-sensei," she said with a tired smile.

"Hey Sakura," Kakashi replied as he moved away. Sakura's smile seemed a little sad as she watched Kakashi and Tsunade disappear through the double doors, but the sadness was wiped away when she looked back at Iruka.

"Come on Iruka-sensei," she chirped, "let's take a look."

oO0Oo

"Well," Tsunade withered into the chair behind her desk as Kakashi closed the door to her office at the hospital, "I refuse to believe you've come to deliver your report. It wouldn't just be on time, it would be early. I'd have a stroke."

Kakashi smiled as he ambled across the room, "you know me too well, Hokage-sama."

"Nn," she snarled, "are you injured?"

"No."

"Good, 'cause I'm in no state to be healing anybody just now," she said tartly, "what are you after?"

"I came a cross a hunter-nin in the forest around the village," Kakashi said, "he was from Hidden Mist."

Tsunade sat a little straighter in her chair, "the Hidden Mist technique was used the other day, when the kidnapping attempt was made."

Kakashi nodded.

"Fuck," Tsunade grumbled, "is it too much to hope this hunter-nin will take care of him? I don't want any missing-nin playing in my backyard."

"It's possible," Kakashi said, "but security in the village should be tightened just in case. I can take my dogs back into the forest and see if we can track him."

"No," Tsunade rose from her seat, "you'll go home and sleep. You look like I feel."

"I can't look as bad as you do," Kakashi said, smiling sweetly.

The Hokage's eyes narrowed, but Kakashi could still see the twitching at the side of her mouth as she tried not to smile, "brat," she said, "get out of my office."

"Hokage-sama," Kakashi said suddenly, all humour gone from his tone, "how is Gai really?"

The hardness around Tsunade's eyes relaxed, as though genuinely surprised at the question. She blinked slowly as she looked down at her desk.

"It was a blister agent, it entered his body through his skin," she said wearily, "all of his internal organs were affected, the damage was done before they even got him here. His organs kept shutting down one by one throughout the night, but we managed to keep him going until I could extract all traces of the poison. His organs will recover over time, but his brain was affected too. We won't know what kind of effect there will be until he wakes up. _If_ he wakes up."

Kakashi felt cold. The floor suddenly didn't feel very stable under his feet. This was Gai she was talking about, _Gai_. He was impervious to everything. She was just being dramatic. Kakashi found himself nodding and turning towards the door, but he felt separate from himself, like he was watching his movements from somewhere to the left.

He wouldn't survive another name carved into the memorial stone. He wouldn't.

oO0Oo

Shinichi glared at the leaf of paper, drowning it in killing intent. It had to be a mistake, all that searching for nothing. He was tired, hungry, and now thoroughly pissed.

Right where it should say who Hatake Kakashi's next of kin was, there was a blank space.

He crushed the paper into a ball in his hand and pelted it across the room. How could someone not have a next of kin? There had to be somebody who would be notified if Kakashi was injured. Someone who would be sent an official scroll in the event of Kakashi's death. How could there be nobody? Not a single solitary person in the Copy-nin's life who he would want to be notified in an emergency. It had to be a mistake. Everybody has somebody, a precious person to keep them going.

Shinichi growled and kicked the drawer of the cabinet closed with a resounding clang. His own medical documents had Zabuza's name in that slot. He hadn't bothered changing it after his brother left. There was no other name to fill that space. So it really wasn't all that hard to imagine Sharingan Kakashi having no one either.

But this wasn't going to work if Kakashi cared for no one. There had to be one person, somewhere, who had a claim over Kakashi's heart.

If there wasn't, Shinichi was screwed.

oO0Oo

"They still look a little tender," Sakura observed as he turned Iruka's wrists over, "but I don't see why you can't go back to work tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Iruka said, "why not today?"

Sakura chuckled as she let go of his arms, "you're a workaholic Iruka-sensei. You can go back tomorrow. No arguments."

Iruka pouted, but he kept silent. Any shinobi worth his salt knew not to antagonise the medics too much. He pulled his sleeves back down, covering the swollen, puckered flesh there that would no doubt leave scars.

"Thank you, Sakura-chan," he beamed.

"Don't mention it Iruka-sensei," she smiled back, but her eyes narrowed impishly, "so, did you give Kakashi-sensei his clothes back?"

Iruka scowled at her, "not yet. I don't know why you're looking at me like that; I just lent him some clothes."

"Mmhmm," she nodded, her eyes sparkling, "of course." Her tone of voice was not convincing.

Iruka shook his head at her and backed away, "you obviously need some sleep, Sakura-chan, exhaustion does terrible things to one's mind."

Sakura just giggled and walked out of the room alongside him.

"What room did Tsunade-sama say Gai was in?" Iruka asked gently.

The laughter in Sakura's eyes dimmed to nothing, "418A," she said quietly.

"Will he be alright?" he asked. He hadn't missed how Tsunade had shirked answering the question earlier.

Sakura sighed, "we'll know when he wakes up."

"When?" Iruka said, "or if?"

Sakura didn't answer. That was all the answer he needed.

oO0Oo

Kakashi stopped in the doorway. He wanted to go in, but there was an invisible barrier blocking the way. He didn't look right, he didn't look like Gai. He looked smaller somehow, more fragile. It was painful just to see.

There were bandages wrapped around the part of his chest that was visible above the covers, his right arm was completely covered in gauze, and one side of his face was wrapped up neatly in white. But his face looked distorted, all red and puffy and swollen. Kakashi wanted to go in, to join Lee and Tenten and Neji, but he didn't belong in there with them. He couldn't move past the doorway.

Lee was knelt by the side of the bed, clutching the blankets in his fists, looking into his sensei's face with an agonised expression. Tenten was on the other side, her hands clasped tightly together as she bit her lip. Neji was stood at the foot of the bed. His face was perfectly blank, but the way his fingers brushed gently over the blankets spoke volumes. Kakashi couldn't go in, he'd be intruding.

Without warning, he suddenly felt a little warmer. Something in his chest had come undone a little. It was only when he heard footsteps that he recognised the smell of jasmine.

Iruka joined him in the doorway and peered past him; Kakashi didn't turn to look at the teacher, but he could feel the heat of Iruka's body at his back. His breaths were coming easier.

"Are you going in?" Iruka asked quietly.

Kakashi opened his mouth to answer, to say no, but his voice was lodged in his throat. Iruka moved slowly past him, stepping into the room while Kakashi watched. Everyone in the room turned to look at Iruka, everyone but Gai. Tenten and Lee smiled small smiles at Iruka, and Neji nodded to him before looking back at Gai.

Iruka didn't look like he was intruding. He had just walked in, like he belonged in there, with them. Like he was allowed to be a part of the worried vigil they had devised. He was immediately accepted.

Kakashi swallowed, and followed the teacher into the room.

Lee smiled up at him, and it might have been Kakashi's imagination, but it seemed like the smile Lee gave to him had been a little bigger than the one he given to Iruka. Part of Kakashi expanded warmly. He didn't feel like an intruder at all.

Lee was on his feet suddenly, his fist held up in determination, "I'm going to train three times as hard as usual," he declared, "so that when Gai-sensei awakes, he will see how much I have improved and make every effort to recover fully to assist in my training again!"

Tenten sniffed softly, "there should be flowers," she said as she looked around the room, "this place is too bland, he'll be bored silly when he wakes up."

Neji just nodded, his eyes never leaving Gai.

Kakashi felt that sinking feeling again. He felt an overwhelming urge to grab them and shake them. Gai might never wake up. He could be lying there, looking like that, forever. Kakashi was sinking, and angry poison eggs were hatching throughout his body. Gai had no right to be in hospital; he had no right to make Kakashi feel like that. Kakashi had always kept the spandex clad idiot at arms length; he could never call Gai his friend. He had never wanted to be Gai's friend, because friends die. But Kakashi was standing there, angry and terrified at the same time, and friends or not, if Gai didn't wake up, Kakashi would break.

When had that happened? When had Gai become someone he would mourn?

Without a word, Kakashi turned around and strode out of the room. He hated Gai for being human. He hated himself for giving a shit.

oO0Oo

Iruka caught up with Kakashi in the courtyard outside the hospital. The jounin had fled the room without a word, and Iruka could see the tension in Kakashi's back as he left. It had been strange to see Gai lying there, so quiet and still. It didn't seem natural, but Kakashi had only been able to bear it for a few moments before he had left. Iruka had the sudden impulse to go after him, to make sure he was okay.

"Kakashi-sensei!" he called as he jogged out into the morning sunshine.

Kakashi stopped. Iruka wandered towards him; the jounin was slouching casually again, but his hands were at his sides, balled into fists.

"Are you okay?" He asked as he stopped beside him. As soon as the words left his mouth he regretted them. It seemed like such an obvious and impersonal thing to ask. And the answer was as clear as day.

"I'm fine," Kakashi replied, not looking at Iruka, instead scrutinising the ground.

"I'm sure Gai-sensei will be alright," he said anxiously, "he must have survived worse than this."

Kakashi's pose seemed to loosen. His hands uncurled slowly from their fists. He nodded mutely.

"He'll be up and about and harking on about the Springtime of our Youth before long," Iruka smiled.

Kakashi nodded again, "yeah, he can't keep quite for too long. He'd combust."

Iruka laughed. Kakashi's eye was smiling. Seeing Kakashi smile made Iruka insanely happy for some reason, he hadn't liked seeing the jounin upset, it had pulled at him, demanded that he do something about it.

"Kakashi-sensei," Iruka said when his laugher had quietened, Kakashi looked up at him, and Iruka's insides started to churn, "um… would you like to get some breakfast? We could go for ramen."

His heart froze. He had just invited Kakashi for ramen.

Kakashi's eye arched, "ramen for breakfast?" he said in amusement, "you're worse than Naruto."

Iruka smiled sheepishly and shrugged, rabid butterflies were trying to break free from his stomach. He wanted Kakashi to say yes, he was _praying_ for Kakashi to say yes. He didn't think he had ever wanted anything so much in his entire life. He felt sick with dancing nerves, petrified that Kakashi would say no and leave Iruka standing there by himself, mortified.

"Thank you, Iruka-sensei," Kakashi said, "but I'll have to decline."

With that sentence, the world shattered into a thousand pieces and put itself back together again, but the cracks were visible. Iruka felt everything inside him go very cold and very hard. His lungs were refusing to work, Iruka forced himself to smile anyway, but it felt like the effort was killing him.

"I really need to sleep," Kakashi continued, "but I'd like to eat ramen with you another time, if that's alright."

Iruka blinked. He might have twitched. His lungs were no longer frozen solid, they were filled with helium and attempting to lift him off the ground.

"Sure," Iruka squeaked.

"Great," Kakashi breathed, "well, see you Iruka-sensei."

"Uh… bye," Iruka replied as his mind went pleasantly blank. He watched Kakashi saunter away, wearing Iruka's clothes. The image was rather nice, and Iruka watched it until it was gone from sight. Even then Iruka couldn't move, he stood in the exact same spot for who knows how long, grinning like a maniac.


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

Kakashi was getting some funny looks. The woman standing at the other side of the launderette kept shooting him death glares as her gaggle of children sped around her ankles. It could have been because he was sitting on top of a violently vibrating washing machine whilst reading porn, but he couldn't be sure.

"What you reading?"

Kakashi lowered his book and peered down at the tiny person who had asked the question. The boy had to be about six years old, with a wide, innocent smile and unnaturally big blue eyes.

"A book," Kakashi replied.

"What's it about?" the little boy asked. He had the longest eyelashes Kakashi had ever seen, they brushed his cheeks when he blinked.

"It's about what mummies and daddies do when they're alone," he said.

"Hiro!" the woman with the death glares marched towards the little boy and snatched up his hand. The look she shot Kakashi could have scorched through solid steel, and she gave one last scathing look to Icha Icha before tugging her little boy away from the nasty porn reading masked man.

Kakashi chuckled and waved to the little boy who was smiling back at him over his shoulder. The vibrations of the washing machine were travelling up his spine. It was relaxing actually, like a massage. He could feel the tension in his back being vibrated away.

He went back to staring at the pages of his book and ignoring the looks that that woman was giving him. He had been getting dirty looks since he was five years old, if she was trying to get him to put his book away she'd have to try a little harder than that. Of course, if she just came out and asked, he would tuck his porn away and behave like a fine upstanding citizen, but it wasn't like her kids had any idea what his book was actually about.

He looked up again when he heard the door to the launderette open and the noise of the marketplace trickled inside. The door clattered back into its frame as Genma stepped into the building.

"Yo," Kakashi waved his book in Genma's general direction and went back to reading. He noticed Genma striding purposefully towards him out of the corner of his eye, but he ignored him in favour of his porn. If Genma wanted something, he'd have to ask.

"I want to talk to you," Genma said once he reached the jounin. Kakashi looked at the other shinobi over the top of his book, it was then that he noticed that something was slightly off with Genma. For a start, he wasn't sucking on one of his senbon. Instead the thin metal needle was tucked behind his ear.

Kakashi lowered his book and peered curiously at the senbon. There had been someone else who stored senbon behind their ears, someone Kakashi had known once, but the memory was like smoke curling through his mind. Intangible.

Genma was frowning. It wasn't an angry frown, more like a contemplative one. He looked a little tense. Kakashi thought about offering him his washing machine.

"Have you heard about Gai?" Genma asked without looking Kakashi in the eye.

Kakashi suddenly felt cold. Gai's name was like a shard of glass imbedded in his flesh. He raised his book again and hid behind it. He didn't want to talk about Gai.

"He was poisoned," Genma went on, "do you know who did it?"

Kakashi sighed behind his book, "no."

For a few minutes the only sounds were the laughter of the children at the other end of the room and the humming of the washing machines. Kakashi let his eyes roam over the words on the page but they weren't sinking in. He had been trying to get Gai off his mind all day, he was determined not to care. But it wasn't working. Gai was the one constant in Kakashi's life. Despite everything that had changed, despite everything they had lost, Gai was always there, always the same. The spandex loving fool had somehow managed to become Kakashi's rock, and the worst part was that Kakashi's didn't know how he had managed it.

"How was he poisoned?" Genma asked suddenly, knocking Kakashi's train of thought sideways.

Kakashi lowered his book slightly and watched the other man. Genma was purposefully not looking at him, which was odd, because Genma was never skittish about eye contact. There was a shadow over Genma's features that had nothing to do with the lighting of the room.

With the air of a condemned man, Kakashi pushed himself off the washing machine to stand next to Genma.

"It was absorbed into his blood stream through his skin and clothes," he replied quietly, "it was in his attacker's saliva, he spat it at him."

Something flashed in Genma's eyes. For a split second Genma looked straight at Kakashi, their eyes met and Kakashi almost took a step back. It was as though Genma's eyes had frosted over with something cold and hard and utterly unyielding.

"Genma…"

"Where?" Genma ground out.

"What?" Kakashi blinked. Genma was known to swing through moods like a teenage girl, but Kakashi couldn't recall if he had ever seen him angry before. Really angry. He had seen Genma sulky and surly, but never quite as angry as he looked right then.

"Where did it happen?" Genma asked, louder and more forceful than before.

"I'm not sure," Kakashi replied, trying to soften his voice into something that might make Genma calm down, "his team were on their way to Otafuku Gai but I don't know…"

Before Kakashi could finish his sentence Genma had turned away. He didn't simply walk out of the laundrette, he stormed out and left a rippling wave of killing intent in his wake.

The smaller children playing across the room burst into tears. The door crashed back into its frame once Genma had stepped outside and Kakashi could only stand there, trying to work out what had just happened.

oO0Oo

The Mizukage would be drinking tea in his private chambers around now. He always drank tea in the afternoon, usually chamomile, usually with honey, and usually with Shinichi.

It wasn't that he was feeling homesick, he'd been away from Hidden Mist for far longer before. He had just come to the sudden, violent realisation that he would never drink tea with the Mizukage ever again. There were a lot of things that he would never do again, and the loss was a lead weight in his chest.

He wasn't an idiot, he knew what he had done. He had become a missing-nin; he had abandoned his village; he was a traitor. That should have made him feel something. Guilt maybe, or regret. But he felt nothing but sad nostalgia each time he thought about how his life had been.

There was a squirrel that lived in the tree in Shinichi's yard back at home; it would poach seeds from the birdfeeder on Shinichi's porch whenever it thought no one was looking. There would be no one to fill the birdfeeder any more, Shinichi wondered if the squirrel would starve.

It was odd to think that he would never again set foot in his house. When he had left, he had assumed he would be back eventually, that yet again he would have to scrape out the mould from the fruit bowl and open every window to get rid of the stale smell. He wasn't actually sad. In fact, just thinking about the place he had once called home put a slight smile on his face. It was like reminiscing about happier times, thinking back on the past with quiet fondness. He had long since come to terms with the fact that he would never go back, but he was at a loss as to how to go forwards. He was stuck; he had hit a dead end. He didn't know what to do about the Copy-nin.

With a sigh, Shinichi stepped out into the hallway and headed for the staircase. He had a sudden craving for chamomile tea with honey. The aroma of tea was winding upwards through the floorboards from the teahouse below, and he could plan his next move sitting at one of the tables downstairs just as easily as he could alone in his room.

"It belongs to one of your guests…"

Shinichi paused at the top of the stairs to listen to the voice that floated upwards from the teahouse. Sakura was directly below him, he recognised her voice.

"Alright Sakura-san," the old woman who owned the establishment replied, "I'll see to it that he gets it."

Shinichi very nearly vaulted down the staircase. He dropped onto the bottom step and swept round the corner and into the teahouse as naturally as was possible. Sakura whipped her head around to look at him when he emerged; she was holding the garish red umbrella in her hand and was in the process of handing it to the old woman when Shinichi smiled at her.

"Good afternoon Sakura-san," he nodded in greeting as he moved towards her.

"Shinichi-san," she smiled back, "I just came to return your umbrella."

"I can see that," he held his hand out and waited for Sakura to place the curve of the handle into his palm, "would you like to have some tea with me? I was just about to order something to drink."

"Oh, I shouldn't really," she shook her head, "I have to be back at the hospital soon so I don't really have the time."

"Surely you have the time for one cup?" Shinichi gave her the most pathetic look he could muster, the look that always caused Zabuza to give in and let him stay up a little bit later when he was a child.

The look was nowhere near as effective now that Shinichi was an adult and his puppy fat had burned away, but Sakura quirked her lips in amusement and nodded anyway.

"Alright," she smiled, "one cup."

"Let me guess," the old woman mused as she looked at Shinichi, "chamomile," she turned to Sakura, "and peppermint tea."

Sakura nodded, and, ever the gentleman, Shinichi led her towards the table in the corner and pulled her chair out for her. She didn't appear to notice the gleefully smug grin on Shinichi's face.

"You look a little tired, Sakura-san," Shinichi said, injecting his voice with as much concern as he could, "it must be difficult working in a hospital."

"Mm, I guess so," she sighed, "I mean, I enjoy it but… it's difficult when someone you know becomes your patient."

Her brow creased slightly, and she blinked as she looked away. Shinichi could practically see the weight sitting on her shoulders, and ever so slightly, he leant towards her with a sympathetic expression.

"Is there something the matter, Sakura-san?"

She looked surprised for a moment, like she had just remembered that he was sitting there.

"Oh, no, not really," she said with a small smile, "it's just that… my friend's jounin sensei was admitted the other day."

"Is he alright?" Shinichi asked, wide eyed and as innocent looking as he could make them appear.

She sighed deeply, "I don't know. I'm sorry, I'm not really supposed to talk about it."

"I understand," Shinichi replied. He didn't really care one way or another, he just needed to make Sakura comfortable with talking to him, she was the only source of information on the Copy-nin that he had.

"I just…" she caught her lower lip between her teeth lightly before she continued, "I couldn't stop thinking about Kakashi-sensei," she said, "my jounin sensei, I mean." Like Shinichi could forget that.

"Why?" Shinichi asked, trying not to sound as riveted as he felt.

She shrugged and chuckled self reproachfully, "it's silly really, I kept trying to imagine what Lee, the friend I mentioned, what he must be feeling to have his sensei injured like that. Then I couldn't stop thinking about how I'd feel if it had been Kakashi-sensei rather than Gai-sensei."

The old woman shuffled across the room towards them, holding a tray with their tea balanced upon it. Despite her wobbling gait, she held the tray surprisingly steady.

Sakura thanked her with a beaming smile as the tea was placed on the table between them. Shinichi quickly poured Sakura's tea for her, and it hit him suddenly that if he were at home, he would be doing this for the Mizukage. The thought resonated through him with an uncomfortable pang.

"Are you alright Shinichi-san?"

Shinichi looked up at her and smiled, "yes. Sorry, I drifted off for a second there."

Sakura smiled and lifted her cup to her lips to blow across the liquid.

"I hope your friend's sensei will be alright," he said, trying to get the subject back onto Kakashi, "is your friend close to his sensei?"

She chuckled softy, "he idolises him. Even wears the same clothes and everything."

"What about you?" Shinichi asked, "are you close to Kakashi-sensei?"

Sakura's face fell, "no, not really. I don't think anyone's close to Kakashi. I… I don't really see him very often. I saw him when we'd finished treating Gai-sensei, I think he wanted to see Gai, he'd been waiting all night with Gai-sensei's students anyway."

"Really?" Shinichi asked breathlessly, and then coughed to cover up the desperation he had heard in his own voice, "so he's friends with your friend's sensei then?"

Sakura shrugged and took a sip of her tea, "they're Eternal Rivals."

Shinichi must have made a confused expression, because Sakura glanced at him and started laughing.

"Don't ask," she grinned, "they have these stupid challenges. Like rock, paper, scissors. Gai-sensei keeps a tally of who's in the lead. I don't think Kakashi-sensei takes Gai very seriously, but he accepts the challenges so I guess they must be friends."

Shinichi was cackling madly on the inside. He could have launched himself over the table and hugged Sakura, but they were on the right subject and Shinichi wanted to milk Sakura for all she was worth, so he sucked in a calming breath and smiled sweetly.

"I would have thought someone as famous as your sensei would have lots of friends."

Sakura frowned, her lips turned downwards at the sides, "fame doesn't get you friends, it gets you fans," she said disapprovingly, "but enough about all that, we keep talking about me and I hardly know anything about you."

Shinichi managed to keep the smile on his face as he ran through a host of back-stories in his head, something convincing that he could tell her. All the while the new information he had just acquired was stewing pleasantly in the back of his mind.

Finally, he was getting somewhere.

oO0Oo

"It's a genjutsu," Konohamaru hissed, "has to be, Iruka-sensei is trapped in a genjutsu."

Hanabi rolled her eyes. She would admit that there appeared to be something wrong with Iruka-sensei, he had been staring out of that window for far too long, but there was no jutsu of any kind involved. In fact, it looked like Iruka-sensei was daydreaming.

"Maybe it's an impostor," Moegi squeaked as she leant across her desk to confer with the other two dunderheads that she called friends, "I bet it's Shikamaru-sensei, he used to just stare off into space like that. Maybe he's using a henge."

Konohamaru shook his head, "no, it's a genjutsu. They've trapped Iruka-sensei in a genjutsu so that they can take over the village."

There was so much wrong with that observation that Hanabi's head was spinning. She didn't try to correct the moron though, she was actually rather interested in what he would do. Konohamaru was certainly not the sharpest kunai in the pouch, but he could be mightily entertaining when left to his own devices.

Still, Iruka-sensei's behaviour was worrying. He was usually very alert, but he was well and truly away with the fairies this time; it wasn't very responsible of him as a shinobi. A shinobi should be aware of his surroundings at all times.

She was a little disappointed in her teacher.

"Don't worry," Konohamaru said in an attempt to placate Moegi, "I'll free him from the enemy genjutsu."

"How?" Moegi asked.

"I think pain is the best way to break a genjutsu's hold," Udon put in, but Konohamaru wasn't listening, he was scrunching up his essay into a ball and staring intently at their teacher at the front of the classroom.

There was no time for Hanabi to stop him, even if she had been so inclined. Konohamaru launched the ball of paper across the room, and it seemed like every pair of eyes in the class were fixed on the arc that the paper made through the air, sailing straight towards Iruka-sensei's face.

Had she blinked, she would have missed it. The entire class gasped when Iruka-sensei's hand snapped up and caught the ball of paper before it smacked him in the face. The impressive part was that he hadn't even looked, he was still staring out of the window. It was like his hand had moved of its own accord.

Maybe Hanabi had been wrong to feel disappointed in her teacher.

Iruka-sensei flicked his wrist, and the wad of paper flew back from whence it came. It hit Konohamaru square between the eyes, causing the idiot boy to fall backwards in his seat in surprise. He clattered to the ground, flailing wildly with indignation, just as Iruka-sensei turned his attention back to his class.

"For that, Konohamaru," Iruka-sensei intoned calmly with a disappointed sigh, "you can clean up the room after class."

"What?" Konohamaru jumped up to his feet, eyes narrowed angrily at his teacher, "but I just saved you from that genjutsu! You should be thanking me!"

Iruka-sensei rolled his eyes in exasperation, "what genjutsu?"

"The genjutsu you were trapped in," the boy replied with a pout as he set his chair the right way up.

"I wasn't trapped in a genjutsu," Iruka-sensei said firmly as he rose from his seat, "what are you talking about?"

Hanabi decided that it was time to take pity on Iruka-sensei, "you were daydreaming, Iruka-sensei," she said.

Iruka-sensei blinked in her direction, his frown dissolved from angry to confused.

"You _were_, Iruka-sensei," Midori called from the back of the classroom, "you were staring out of the window with a blank look on your face for a really long time."

Iruka-sensei swept his eyes over the classroom, and then looked back towards the window, a pained look of incomprehension on his features.

"I wasn't," he said, "I wasn't daydreaming, I was… thinking."

No, he was daydreaming, Hanabi knew the signs. She had seen Hinata daydream enough to know the difference. Iruka-sensei's face had gone all slack, his eyes had glazed over, he had even been smiling slightly. He had been in a completely different world, but if he wanted to make out that he had been 'thinking' then who was she to argue?

"What were you thinking about?" Konohamaru demanded, folding his arms across his chest.

"About… doujutsu," Iruka nodded at his own words, "we're going to start studying doujutsu, so could anyone tell me what doujutsu is?"

Hanabi hissed under her breath and shifted a little further down in her seat. She was the only doujutsu user in the class, so naturally she would be put on show for everyone to gawk at in the name of education. Maybe Iruka-sensei would conveniently forget that she was there.

Udon jabbed his hand into the air.

"Yes Udon," Iruka-sensei smiled.

"Doujutsu is an ability found inherent in the eye," Udon said, as though he were reciting the definition from a text book, "like the Byakugan and the Sharingan."

And right on cue, every eye in the room was suddenly on Hanabi. She glared across the classroom at her teacher, trying to scorch holes in his head with her eyes, while she simultaneously tried to will herself into invisibility.

"That's right," Iruka-sensei clapped his hands loudly, giving Hanabi an apologetic smile as he tried to draw the class's attention back to him, "doujutsu usually relies on the unique genetics of the user. Byakugan is the blood inheritance limit of the Hyuuga clan, and the Sharingan is the blood inheritance limit of the Uchiha clan."

"What about Kakashi-sensei?" Konohamaru quipped.

Iruka-sensei faltered. If Hanabi hadn't been glaring at him at that specific moment, she would have missed it. At the mention of Kakashi-sensei, Iruka-sensei's heart literally sped up. She could see it.

"Uh… what about him?" he asked warily.

"He has a Sharingan doesn't he?" Konohamaru frowned, "but he's not an Uchiha."

"How does he have a Sharingan then?" Midori asked.

"Um, no, no he's not an Uchiha," Iruka-sensei said, "but he does have a Sharingan. However, we're going to start with the Byakugan today since we have a Hyuuga in our class…"

Hanabi's death glare of doom took on whole new proportions. Fortunately she was saved, by none other than Konohamaru.

"Have you seen it, Iruka-sensei?" he asked, his eyes wide and his voice slightly breathless.

"Seen what?" Iruka-sensei said, looking even more uncomfortable by the second.

"Kakashi-sensei's Sharingan eye," he said, "have you seen it?"

Iruka-sensei licked his lips and rubbed the back of his neck, "well, yes I have…"

"What did it look like?" Udon blurted out as he leant eagerly across his desk. Hanabi settled more comfortably into her seat. If the rest of the class kept asking stupid questions, then she wouldn't have to get up and perform like a monkey at the zoo for everyone.

"Well, it was… um…" Iruka-sensei looked at the floor, and his eyes glazed over again, just like they had when he had been staring out of the window. Hanabi sat up a little straighter in her seat and peered at her teacher curiously. She had a sneaking suspicion that she knew what Iruka-sensei had been daydreaming about.

"It was…" Iruka-sensei went on, "it was red. Now if Hanabi could just…"

"RED?" Konohamaru cried in outrage, "that's it? It was red? Give me a break! What did it really look like Iruka-sensei? My uncle says that to look into the Sharingan is to see death! Did you see death?"

"Was it scary Iruka-sensei?"

"What does death look like Iruka-sensei?"

"Sharingans are red?"

"How did you get him to show you Iruka-sensei?"

Hanabi smiled slightly to herself and rested her chin on her hand. It looked like she wouldn't have to parade her bloodline limit around the classroom after all, and watching Iruka-sensei get all flustered and flushed was actually quite entertaining. The rest of the class didn't seem to realise how fast Iruka-sensei's heart was beating, or how his body temperature had risen slightly as he was hounded with questions about Kakashi-sensei, but Hanabi noticed, and she thought she knew what it meant.

She would have to do a little investigating.

oO0Oo

It was bugging him, the memory that he couldn't quite latch onto. Kakashi felt like he was missing something important, something obvious. Genma's anger, and the senbon that he had resting behind his ear, it had reminded Kakashi of something, but he couldn't think what.

If he stopped _trying_ to remember then the memory would probably come to him. But he couldn't let it go. It was important, he knew it was.

"Oi!"

Kakashi halted and looked across the street at the boy, Konohamaru, who was pointing directly at Kakashi.

"Yes?" Kakashi asked. What was the kid doing still hanging around the Academy? Classes were well over by now, surely. In fact, Kakashi had been counting on it; he was on his way to Iruka's house to return his clothes, which were pinned snugly under his arm.

"Can I see your eye?" he asked loudly as he marched across the street, away from the Academy and towards the jounin, with a determined glint in his eye. The boy was covered in a fine white powder, which Kakashi recognised as chalk dust when the kid was a little closer.

"How about… no," Kakashi said cheerfully.

"Why not?" the boy cried, "you showed it to Iruka-sensei!"

"Sarutobi Konohamaru!" Iruka's voice blasted out onto the street. Even Kakashi winced at the sheer volume, but Konohamaru looked positively stricken.

Kakashi looked over the boy's head, and watched the schoolteacher approach them with fury raging in his eyes, "leave Kakashi-sensei alone! And don't think you are getting away with that stunt, the only reason you aren't hanging from the Hokage monument by your toenails is because the medics told me not to exert myself!"

Somehow, Iruka managed to make Konohamaru look ashamed, frightened and thoroughly concerned all at the same time.

Amused, Kakashi looked from the student to the teacher, and chuckled lightly.

"Sorry, Iruka-sensei," Konohamaru held his hands up in surrender, "sorry!"

Iruka clucked angrily and crossed his arms, "good, now stop harassing poor unsuspecting jounin!"

Konohamaru 'meep'ed and dashed off before Iruka could say anything else. Kakashi wasn't sure if he should laugh or step away from the angry schoolteacher, but as soon as Konohamaru sped away, Iruka smiled at Kakashi.

"Sorry about that," he said cheerfully, "we've just started studying doujutsu, he was just curious."

Kakashi just nodded, he couldn't seem to find his voice. Konohamaru wasn't the only one dusted in chalk. Iruka's uniform was sprinkled with the powder, and there was a layer of white on his cheek. Kakashi didn't know what to make of it, he didn't know what he was thinking. But Iruka just suddenly seemed so very… cute. The chalk dust on his face was kind of charming. He had no idea what he was doing, his hand just moved of its own accord, and then he was brushing the chalk dust off Iruka's cheek with his fingertips.

Iruka's skin was soft.

And warm. Because he was blushing.

Kakashi snatched his hand back and felt heat rise up his neck and into his face. What the hell had he just been doing?

"You have… err…" he pointed to his own cheek to emphasise, "chalk…"

"Oh," Iruka breathed and smiled adorably, "thank you." He rubbed his hand over his cheek, brushing the dust away. "That's the last time I make Konohamaru clean the chalkboard, I should have known better."

Kakashi could only nod. His fingertips were tingling.

"Well," Iruka sighed and smiled, he looked a little embarrassed, "I um… I'd better be going… um… do you…"

"Do I what?" Kakashi asked, he was surprised by how quiet his voice sounded.

"Do you… oh, um, never mind…" Iruka chuckled, "I'll just…" He started to move away, and as the space between them began to grow, Kakashi felt a terrible crushing desperation that made him reach out and grab Iruka's bicep, just to make him stay.

Iruka blinked in surprise, but he had stopped moving at least.

Kakashi had no clue what he was doing, all he knew was that everyone left, everyone left him behind one way or the other, both metaphorically and literally. For some reason he couldn't watch Iruka walk away; he knew it was uncalled for, but he felt oddly content whenever he was around the chuunin, even when he was feeling awkward and out of place, he felt welcome. There weren't many people who made him feel that way, and he didn't want it to go.

"I…" Kakashi swallowed, "I have your clothes."

Iruka looked down at the uniform pressed tightly into Kakashi's side under his arm, and he smiled.

"Thank you," he said, "I have your clothes. I mean… not with me… they're at home… but…" he scratched his head and the red hue to his cheeks returned, "you could come back with me, to get your clothes."

Kakashi loosened his fingers from around Iruka's arm, but his hand didn't want to move away from the firm muscles he could feel under the sleeve of Iruka's uniform. He simply nodded, with his hand resting lightly upon Iruka's arm, feeling slightly anxious, but more than slightly giddy.

Iruka didn't move. Neither did Kakashi. It struck the jounin that it must look a little strange, for the two of them to just be standing there, stock still, looking at one another, with Kakashi's hand on Iruka's arm.

There was a prickling on the back of his neck, tickling up his spine. Kakashi flinched slightly when he recognised the feeling, they were being watched.

He turned to look at the girl standing further down the street. Hyuuga Hanabi was watching them intently, with the smallest of smirks.

Kakashi dropped his hand from Iruka's arm and smiled at the schoolteacher.

"Shall we go then?" he said.

oO0Oo

There was an echo of Kakashi's fingertips lingering on his cheek. The touch had almost been a caress, it had stolen all of the air from Iruka's lungs. He didn't know why Kakashi had done that, Kakashi's fingertips on his face had seemed far too intimate for two men who hardly knew one another, but Iruka couldn't help but want Kakashi to do it again.

He took the clothes from Kakashi hands and led the way to his house. His mind was swimming, but he felt blissfully content. They were walking along in utter silence, but Iruka felt no need to speak. He was comfortable as he was, just walking with Kakashi.

He knew that his thoughts had been drifting to the jounin far too often lately. He couldn't seem to help it, his mind always travelled to silvery grey hair and mismatched eyes. He didn't know why, at first he thought that it was simply curiosity, just benign interest. But he couldn't kid himself anymore, there was more than curiosity threading through his insides. Something warm and consuming that danced whenever he was near Kakashi. He didn't have a name for the feeling yet, but it wasn't mere curiosity.

"Are you alright Iruka-sensei?"

Kakashi was looking at him worriedly. It amazed Iruka that the man could express himself with only one eye visible, but he could certainly see concern in that eye, as dark and fathomless as the night sky but filled with worry.

Knowing that Kakashi was actually worried about him made Iruka feel like he could take off and fly home. He smiled gratefully and shook his head.

"I'm fine," he said, "why do you ask?"

Kakashi shrugged and slid his hands into his pockets, "you looked very serious all of a sudden."

Iruka didn't know what to say, he could hardly tell Kakashi what was on his mind, that he was worried that his thoughts about Kakashi were beginning to become inappropriate. They hardly knew each other, and Kakashi was his comrade, his superior, yet Iruka could barely get his mind off the jounin.

Kakashi stopped suddenly, Iruka took another step forward before he realised that the jounin was no longer beside him. He spun around, gripped by a thoroughly inappropriate fear that Kakashi was about to make one of the outlandish excuses that Naruto had told him about and take off, leaving Iruka to wish him back.

"Are you hungry Iruka-sensei?" Kakashi asked.

"Huh?"

Kakashi nodded in the direction of the Ichiraku Ramen Stand, his eye curved in amusement.

"Oh," Iruka breathed when he realised what Kakashi meant. He wanted to have ramen with him. Kakashi _really _wanted to have ramen with him, he hadn't just said that back at the hospital to save Iruka's feelings.

Iruka smiled, suddenly insanely happy, "I'm starving," he replied.

With a tilt of his head, Kakashi beckoned Iruka towards the ramen stand. Iruka followed him, as though inexplicably drawn to him. He couldn't have gone in any other direction apart from towards Kakashi even if he had wanted to. There was an invisible pull dragging him closer. Like gravity.

"I haven't eaten here in a while," Kakashi sighed nostalgically.

"You eat here?" Iruka blinked in surprise, he couldn't remember seeing Kakashi at Ichiraku, surely he would remember seeing him there.

"Only when nosy genins are trying to catch a glimpse of my face," Kakashi smiled.

Iruka nodded, remembering Naruto's tale of "The Plan" and how it had gone hopelessly pear shaped.

He dropped his uniform onto the counter and slid onto the stool beside Kakashi as Teuchi, the owner of the stand, turned to greet them with a generous smile. His smile widened when he noticed Iruka, and he looked approvingly at Kakashi.

"Iruka-sensei," Teuchi nodded in greeting, "nice to see you again, and you have company!"

"Oh, this is Kakashi-sensei," Iruka said, embarrassed for some reason, but a little proud at the same time. He wanted Teuchi to think he was friends with Kakashi, he _was_ friends with him, wasn't he?

"What can I get you?" Teuchi asked as he leant onto the counter eagerly.

"Pork ramen for me," Iruka replied.

"Miso ramen," Kakashi said, just as Ayame appeared from out back. The young waitress looked flustered, and a frown was creasing her features. It looked like she was bout to start yelling at Teuchi when her eyes fell upon Kakashi.

Kakashi didn't seem to notice, but Iruka certainly did. Ayame's eyes widened, her cheeks became tinted with a pink flush, and before anyone could say anything she had dashed out back again.

Teuchi chuckled and shook his head as she ran away, muttering something good humouredly under his breath that Iruka couldn't catch.

"That was odd," Iruka murmured.

"Hmm?" Kakashi looked up at him, "what was?"

"Oh, nothing," Iruka replied, "I was just talking to myself."

"That's the second sign of madness, Iruka-sensei," Kakashi warned.

"Huh?" Iruka frowned, "what's the first?"

"Hairy palms," Kakashi replied flatly.

Iruka blinked, then looked down at his own palms curiously.

Without warning, Kakashi burst out laughing. Not just an amused chuckle, but rolling laugher that shook his shoulders. Iruka hadn't been expecting it, but he liked the sound of Kakashi's laughter, it was infectious.

Then he remembered that Kakashi was laughing at _him_, and he placed his palms back down onto the counter and narrowed his eyes at the jounin, even though a smile was trying to break out across his face.

"I can't believe you looked," Kakashi sighed once he had stopped laughing, "I'm sorry Iruka-sensei, I just never expected you to fall for that."

Iruka bit his lip in an attempt to stop smiling and huffed indignantly, but that just earned him another chuckle. It _had_ been pretty funny, he knew his palms weren't hairy so why the hell had he looked?

But it had made Kakashi laugh. _Really_ laugh. That in itself was worth any embarrassment. It had brought a warm glow to Iruka's body, he'd like to hear it again.

Ayame appeared again; she sashayed up to Teuchi and knocked him out of the way.

"I'll finish their orders," she said sweetly, but in a way that left no room for argument. Iruka did a double take. Her hair was much neater than it had been moments ago, and her uniform looked cleaner, he was sure there had been stains on the clothes she had been wearing before. And was she wearing _lipgloss_?

Iruka wondered who she was trying to impress, then she glanced surreptitiously at Kakashi, and a pretty blush made its way across her cheeks. Iruka didn't have to wonder then, he knew, and he suddenly wanted to grab Kakashi and drag him far away from Ichiraku.

But Kakashi hadn't seemed to notice.

"Here you are," Ayame announced as she placed Kakashi's meal down in front of him with a demure smile.

"Thank you," Kakashi smiled, and Iruka gritted his teeth when Ayame actually batted her eyelashes.

"Ahem!" Iruka coughed pointedly, still waiting for his own ramen. What was Ayame playing at staring at Kakashi like that? She hadn't even glanced in Iruka's direction, her gaze was firmly fixed upon the jounin's masked face.

Kakashi pulled apart his chopsticks, and Iruka realised… she was waiting to get a glimpse of his face!

Iruka's hands curled into fists on the counter. He felt angry on Kakashi's behalf, who did Ayame think she was? Iruka had always liked her, but right then he could quite happily have poured that ramen over her head.

Somewhere in the back of his mind he realised he was overreacting, but he brushed the thought aside and opened his mouth to give Ayame a piece of his mind on respecting other people's privacy.

Before he could utter a word, Teuchi grabbed the girl by the shoulders and ushered her towards the back of the ramen stand, "don't you have work to do young lady?"

"But I…

"Out you go," Teuchi practically shoved her out the back of the stand and out of sight before turning back to Iruka and producing his meal. "Sorry about that. Girls eh?"

Iruka just grunted and snapped his chopsticks apart before he turned to Kakashi. He wanted to apologise for Ayame, but when he looked he was too shocked to speak. Kakashi's bowl was empty, and he was patting his stomach in appreciation.

"You… you're finished already?" Iruka goggled.

Kakashi nodded, "it was very good."

"Are you nuts?" Iruka asked in shock, "you'll choke if you eat that fast! Or at the very least give yourself an acute case of indigestion!"

Kakashi simply chuckled and leant onto the counter, "I was hungry."

Iruka rolled his eyes and decided that the eating habits of jounin were none of his business, "it would be quite a way for the great Copy-nin to die," he said as he began to tuck into his own food, "to choke on ramen."

Kakashi just smiled, watching as Iruka slurped his ramen.

After a couple of minutes Iruka stopped eating and looked at Kakashi. The jounin had been watching him eat, not simply a casual glance now and then, but with an intensity that he would probably dedicate to learning a new jutsu. It was unnerving to be the object of Kakashi's close scrutiny, especially when he was slurping noodles. Iruka fought the urge to squirm and licked his lips nervously.

Kakashi blinked and looked away.

"Um, Kakashi-sensei," Iruka said softly, hating himself for what he was about to say, "you don't have to wait for me to finish. If you have other things to do…"

"No," Kakashi replied suddenly, "I um… I don't have anything else to do. And I don't mind waiting."

Iruka nodded, relief flooded through him. As uncomfortable as he felt to be watched while he ate, he _did_ want to spend time with Kakashi. He wouldn't mind spending _all_ of his time with Kakashi. There was something about the other man that made Iruka feel… important. He didn't know why, but whenever all of Kakashi's attention was focused on him, Iruka felt like he was the most important person in the world. He was used to being no more than a chuunin, just a schoolteacher, nothing special. He wasn't particularly skilled or powerful, he was simply average. But he didn't feel average when he was around Kakashi. It was as though Kakashi himself didn't think Iruka was average, and just knowing that Kakashi thought better of him made Iruka feel better about himself.

Kakashi must have realised that Iruka felt a little uncomfortable being watched so intently, so he picked up one of his chopsticks and began twirling it around his fingers, watching the movement with a lazy eye. Iruka turned his attention back to his meal, when he caught sight of Kakashi's expression out of the corner of his eye. Kakashi's was frowning, scrutinising the movement of the chopstick as he spun it between his fingers.

The chopstick stopped moving suddenly, Kakashi held it between his fingers, his eye had widened as though in sudden realisation.

"That's it," Kakashi whispered to himself.

oO0Oo

He had thought he was dying. It had been cold, the ground had been wet, and Kakashi had been convinced that it was the end, he was going to die at the grand old age of eight.

Blood had been oozing out of his abdomen, he had been stabbed, and he could only wonder if this had been how his father felt when he thrust the blade into his own belly.

The enemy ninja had been walking towards him, and Kakashi couldn't move. He had been separated from his sensei in the attack, he didn't even know if the man was still alive. They had been vastly outnumbered, the Yellow Flash had simply given the scroll they had been sent to retrieve to Kakashi and told him to run.

But they had caught up with him, and he didn't know if it was because they had defeated his sensei or if they had just managed to slip past the man, but Kakashi hadn't been able to believe that the Yellow Flash was dead. The Yellow Flash couldn't die, he simply couldn't, there was no room in Kakashi's brain to even contemplate it.

Just when Kakashi had been convinced he was about to die, that the scroll would fall into enemy hands, he had heard a woman's voice ring out through the trees.

"Back away from the munchkin, and you get to keep your balls."

Kakashi had pried his eyes apart to look. She had been standing a few feet away from him, smiling sweetly at the enemy shinobi, with a senbon tucked behind her ear. She had winked at Kakashi, right before taking the senbon from behind her ear and twirling it between her fingers, so fast that it was just a blur.

The memory dropped into Kakashi's head as he was twirling his chopstick. Shiranui Maiha, who kept her hair pinned up with poisoned senbon and always wore one behind her ear. She looked exactly like Genma, her son.

Kakashi suddenly remembered how she died, he remembered Genma's anger, his questions earlier that day. The killing intent radiating off him as he walked away.

"I need to find Genma," Kakashi said as he dropped his chopstick, _before he does something stupid_.

He slid off the stool and spun out onto the street.

"Hey!" he heard Iruka call after him, "wait!"


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

He had told Genma exactly where to go. That fact was curdling his insides, making him squirm. He might as well have pushed Genma through the gates himself, there was no way Genma would just sit on that information. Kakashi had sent Genma to his death.

"_His team were on their way to Otafuku Gai…"_

It had been hours since Kakashi had seen Genma. Hours for Genma to chase down his revenge. Otafuku Gai was only twelve kilometres away, and Genma was fast, he was probably there already, dancing with death. Gai and his team had dragged themselves back to Konoha with their tails between their legs, there was no way Genma could defeat Gai's attackers single-handedly. He'd be killed if he tried.

Kakashi skidded to a halt upon the tiles of the rooftop and crouched at the edge, casting his single eye over the horizon of the village. He hoped he was overreacting. He hoped that Genma had simply gone home, to sulk and seethe alone. He hoped a lot of things, but he hoped most of all that he would find Genma, safe and sound and nowhere near Otafuku Gai.

"Kakashi!"

The sound of his name startled him, but he didn't let it show. He had been so busy berating himself that he hadn't been paying attention, the presence of the chuunin behind him so suddenly unannounced made his thoughts dart away.

He turned to look over his shoulder, to where Iruka was crouched at the other end of the rooftop. There was a faint look of confused concern on the chuunin's face, made all the more precious by the soft strip of chalk dust that Iruka had failed to wipe away completely.

Kakashi blinked, and tried to remember what he had been doing only moments ago.

"Is everything alright?" Iruka asked as he straightened out of his crouch, his brows drew further together when Kakashi's only answer was to blink. The sun was caught behind Iruka, caught in the wisps of hair that had freed themselves of the hair-tie. There was a shimmering aura of sunlight framing the chuunin. Kakashi blinked again, breathing had suddenly become a little more difficult.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Iruka walked across the tiles, keeping his deep brown eyes firmly on the jounin, "is something wrong? You ran off so suddenly…"

Kakashi opened his mouth to reply, and then clamped his jaw shut with an audible click. He had run off hadn't he, without so much as a goodbye. He hadn't actually been planning to leave the chuunin with the bill, believe it or not. He hadn't been planning to leave at all, he had wanted to stay in Iruka's company until the schoolteacher was sick to death of him.

But he had realised that Genma had…

_Genma…_

"I need to find Genma," Kakashi replied. Iruka was standing over him now, draping Kakashi in his shadow. There was a shudder trying to make itself known in Kakashi's abdomen as he looked up at the chuunin, something pleasant and ticklish that quivered as Kakashi found himself caught in Iruka's gaze.

"Genma?" Iruka asked softly, "why? What's happened?"

Kakashi felt his insides squirm again as he remembered the conversation he and Genma had had, "nothing yet, I hope," he said as he looked back out over the village, "but I need to find him before something _does _happen."

"I don't understand," Iruka crouched down beside Kakashi, peering at the jounin's profile anxiously, "what's going to happen?"

He should have made the connection. He should have realised sooner. Genma's questions had confused Kakashi at the time, but now they made perfect sense. Kakashi had visions of finding Genma's corpse in the forest around Otafuku Gai. It would be his fault, he had told Genma where to go.

"I'm an idiot," Kakashi said softly, more to himself that to the chuunin knelt at his side.

He was startled again when he felt a light touch to his shoulder. Iruka's hand was a comforting weight, light enough to be unobtrusive, but there nonetheless.

"I don't know what's going on," Iruka said, "but I'll help you find Genma; maybe we should split up, we could find him faster."

Kakashi just looked at Iruka, at the eager expression he was wearing, accented by the confusion in his eyes. Kakashi hadn't realised how close Iruka was to him, their thighs were almost touching, separated by a hair of space between them as they knelt at the edge of the rooftop. If Kakashi shifted his weight, just a little, they would be touching. The urge to move just a fraction closer was starting to burn.

Kakashi was not a touchy feely type of person. But Iruka just begged to be touched. The lightness of the chuunin's hand on his shoulder was a teasing weight, he wanted more.

It would be so easy to lean closer. It wouldn't take any effort at all. But there was no reason to want to bridge the distance, nothing more than an indulgent desire for some sort of comfort that Kakashi was sure he would find if he could get more contact, more than just a hand on his shoulder that was starting to make him ache.

"Good idea," Kakashi replied, standing rather than shifting closer. The hand on his shoulder fell away, leaving a whisper behind, a cold patch that had been warm moments ago. "If you find him… just stop him from leaving the village."

"Why would he leave Konoha?" Iruka frowned as he rose to stand beside Kakashi.

"I told him where to find the man who killed his mother," Kakashi replied, his voice heated by guilt, "try his apartment first, I'm going to the gates to see if the sentries have seen him leaving."

Iruka nodded, his eyes had widened in alarm with Kakashi's explaination. Another pang of guilt sounded through Kakashi when he focused on Iruka's face. He hadn't meant to tell Genma, he hadn't realised what it was he was telling him, it was a mistake.

"I'll meet you back here in half an hour if I can't find him," Iruka stated. Kakashi simply nodded before turning away. His heart had grown heavy with foreboding, he was wrapped up with a sense of haste that made him push himself from the rooftop in the direction of the village gates.

oO0Oo

If he tried, _really_ tried, Iruka thought he could remember the funeral of Genma's mother. He had only been very young at the time, five, maybe six years old, and the memory had become warped and faded over time, mingled with other memories from other places. He wasn't sure what he was remembering really, apart from a massive funeral pyre and flames that licked the sky. It might have been the first funeral he had ever attended. It wasn't the last.

He had met Genma there for the first time. Iruka's mother had taken him towards the boy and told Iruka to pay his respects. Iruka hadn't wanted to say he was sorry, he hadn't done anything wrong. But his mother had yanked on his ear so Iruka had winced and apologised with a scowl on his face.

That was really all he remembered. He had no memory of Genma's mother, he doubted he had ever met her, and he had no idea how she died. But Iruka knew what it was like to need to blame someone for your pain, he knew what it was like to want to hurt someone to make the agony of grief go away.

Knowing this, Iruka didn't really expect to find Genma at his apartment.

He raced up the staircase and pounded onto Genma's door anyway.

When he was eleven, Iruka had tried to kill Naruto. That was to be his revenge. It was supposed to make the grief go away. Naruto was the home of the demon that had killed his parents. All of Iruka's suffering paved a path back to that tiny blue eyed baby. Rationally, he had known that Naruto was not to blame, even back then, but he also knew that the Kyuubi lived within Naruto, and that if Iruka ever wanted revenge then Naruto was simply an obstacle in his way.

He had crept across the village after dark, heading in the direction of the foster home where Naruto was being cared for. Iruka hadn't thought it through, he hadn't decided what he would do when he got there; his plan consisted of finding the baby. What came after hadn't been decided.

The house had been on fire when he arrived. He hadn't been the only one to want revenge. He hadn't been the first person to act. But when he looked at the roaring flames, eating away at the house, belching out black smoke, Iruka had known that he wouldn't have been able to go through with it. When he heard one of the spectators who had come to watch the burning building mention that the baby was still inside, the dread that froze Iruka to the spot was proof that he would never have been able to harm Naruto. The mere thought of Naruto burning to death had made him feel sick.

An ANBU had crashed out of the second storey window, a black wraith with a dog-like face landing gracefully on the roof of the building opposite. He had a bundle of blankets held in his arms, cradled against his chest. The crowd that had gathered jeered and hissed when it became obvious that the baby was safe, but Iruka had only felt light with relief. He had been glad the baby was alright. Naruto didn't deserve to die because of circumstances outside his control. It wasn't fair what had happened to Iruka's family, but it wasn't fair what had happened to Naruto either.

Iruka's revenge had been washed away with the water jutsu that was used to put out the flames. The ANBU and the baby had vanished into the night. The crowd had dispersed, and Iruka had wandered though the streets, glad that he hadn't gotten there first.

To this day Iruka didn't know what he would have done if he had arrived before the fire had started. He didn't know if he could have done anything to harm Naruto. But he knew that he had wanted to. Before he had seen those flames he wanted nothing more than to destroy Naruto and the demon inside him. It was justice. Iruka could understand perfectly how Genma must be feeling.

So he wasn't surprised at all when no one answered the door.

How did Kakashi know where Genma could find the person who killed his mother anyway? And why on earth had he told him? Surely Kakashi must have known how Genma would react, but the look on Kakashi's face prevented Iruka from casting any real blame his way. He could vividly recall the pained desperation in Kakashi's eye when Iruka had stood over him on the roof. Iruka hadn't been able to do anything but offer his help, even before he knew what he was helping with. Iruka was well aware of how powerful Kakashi was, but no matter which way Iruka looked at him, he could see clearly a faint sliver of vulnerability that Kakashi had hidden behind his infamy. He felt like an idiot, but Iruka had the suspicion that all Kakashi needed to do was ask, and Iruka would throw away everything to help him any way that he could.

Iruka didn't bother with the staircase. He bolted out of the fire escape and dropped over the railings and onto the floor below. He was determined not to let Kakashi down, Iruka had offered the jounin his help and Kakashi had accepted it. It spread a giddy warmth through Iruka to think that he could help Kakashi at all. He didn't feel inadequate around Kakashi, even though he knew that he should. Kakashi was a genius jounin, the infamous Copy-nin, and Iruka was nowhere near his level. But he never felt inadequate when he was around Kakashi. He felt valued.

So he was going to find Genma because Kakashi trusted him to do so.

Only he had no idea where to look.

"Iruka-sensei," Iashi, the medic-nin waved as Iruka rushed past him, "what's the hurry?"

"I'm sorry Iashi-san," Iruka called without pausing as he continued down the street, "I need to find someone."

"Who are you looking for?" Iashi asked, halting in his progression along the street to call after Iruka, "maybe I can help."

"Genma," Iruka replied, slowing down in case Iashi could help him, "do you know where he is?"

Iashi shook his head, "sorry," he shrugged, "he was looking for Shizune this morning, but I haven't seen him since."

Iruka paused. Shizune, maybe she would know where to find him.

"Thanks Iashi-san," he waved back to the medic-nin as he raced around the corner in the direction of Hokage Tower to find Shizune.

oO0Oo

Kakashi hopped up onto the wall surrounding Konoha, landing silently behind the ANBU sentry on duty at the gates.

"Tenzou," Kakashi strode purposefully towards the ANBU, who jumped in surprise and whipped around, taking a fighting stance before he recognised Kakashi.

"Kakashi-senpai," he gasped behind the lacquer mask, "you shouldn't sneak up on people like that!"

"Has Genma passed you lately?" Kakashi asked, glancing down at the forest on the other side of the wall.

"Genma?" Tenzou repeated.

"Shiranui Genma," Kakashi replied, "have you seen him?"

Tenzou shook his head, "I haven't Kakashi-senpai, I'm sorry."

_Good._ Kakashi turned around, ready to leap back down into the village, "inform the other sentries that Genma is not to leave Konoha," he said firmly, "if you see him, detain him and inform me."

"Yes sir," Tenzou replied, "can I ask what's going on?"

Kakashi had already jumped down from the wall before Tenzou had finished his sentence. He prayed that he was overreacting, that Genma would have a good old laugh at his expense when he found out about this. But Kakashi was starting to panic. If Genma did go after the men who had attacked Gai then Kakashi would be just as responsible. He had told Genma where to go.

He landed effortlessly on the gravel below, and caused Shizune to drop all of the papers she was holding at his sudden appearance.

"Gah!" she glared at him as the papers floated to the ground all around her, "do you like startling people?"

"Have you seen Genma?" Kakashi asked, ignoring her question.

"What?" she frowned, "no, not since this morning. Why? What has he done now?" She knelt down to gather up the papers she had dropped and then glared up at him, "don't just stand there!"

Kakashi rolled his eyes impatiently and snatched up every sheet of paper within arms reach, "I need to find him."

Shizune grabbed the papers from his hands, scowling at the creases Kakashi had put into the sheets, "he was in a weird mood," she muttered as she flattened out the papers in her lap, "but then, he's a weird guy. He kept asking me about the antidote I made yesterday."

"What antidote?" Kakashi asked, halfway between crouching and standing.

Shizune blinked up at him, flattening the papers into a neater pile, "the antidote to the poison that was used on Gai," she replied, "Tsunade-sama extracted all of the poison from him so he didn't need an antidote, but Tsunade-sama wanted me to concoct one anyway, just in case."

Kakashi stood up, stepped back, and vanished in a swirl of smoke. Shizune's papers scattered into the air once again.

oO0Oo

Iruka jumped down from the roof of the library and dashed across the street towards the hospital. Shizune hadn't been in the administration building, the only other place he could think of to find her was the hospital. He raced towards the entrance, dancing around the villagers that were littering the street as he did so.

There was a film of smoke shrouding his vision suddenly, and then he slammed into something that felt similar to a brick wall. He landed on the dirt with a muffled cry as the smoke cleared.

"Iruka-sensei?"

Iruka glanced up in time to see Kakashi turning around to face him. The smoke from the transportation jutsu thinned out, leaving only a startled looking Copy-nin peering down at Iruka who was sprawled on the ground. It irked him slightly that he had been the one to go flying to the ground, whereas Kakashi hadn't shifted at all when Iruka ran into him. It hurt his pride slightly, but he brushed it aside.

"I take it you didn't find him," Kakashi said as he leant over and took hold of Iruka's arm with both hands.

Where Kakashi's palms were pressed into his arm, Iruka thought he could feel electricity. The heat of Kakashi's hands was seeping though the gloves, through his sleeve and into his very bones. He had never been so aware of the position of someone's fingertips before. When Kakashi pulled him to his feet, as though he weighed nothing at all, Iruka felt his insides shake.

He missed those hands when Kakashi took them back. He could still feel an echo of their warmth branded into his arm.

"Come on," Kakashi jerked his head in the direction of the hospital entrance and moved away, striding towards the doors.

It took Iruka a moment to compose himself. His arm could still remember the firm grip of Kakashi's hands.

The doors swung closed behind Iruka. He caught up to Kakashi, who was standing in the middle of the reception area, wearing a frown and glancing around impatiently.

"Do you know where they keep the antidotes?" Kakashi asked, still scanning the myriad of doorways and corridors that veered off from the reception area.

"Huh?" Iruka glanced around. Kakashi seemed to be a fair few steps ahead of him, so Iruka jogged towards the nurses' station and peered at the nurse seated across from him.

"Could you tell me where the antidotes are kept?" he asked.

"I'm afraid only medics are allowed to access the medication," the nurse replied without looking up from the form she was busy scribbling over, "if you've been poisoned then…"

"I haven't been poisoned," Iruka snapped, "I need to know where the antidotes are kept, I have enough security clearance…"

"It doesn't matter," the nurse looked up finally, "you have to be a medic to…"

The conversation was cut off abruptly by a piercing screech that shattered the quiet. Every head in the room jerked to the left, seeking out the source of the sound.

Kakashi was the first person to move. One moment he was standing in the centre of the reception area, the next he was gone, the only indication of where he had vanished to was the swinging of the doors to the left of the room.

Iruka pushed himself away from the nurses' station and rushed after him.

He could verify the source of the commotion at the end of the hallway, where a small group of nurses and medic-nin had gathered, peering warily through the doorway they were crowded around. Iruka skidded to a halt beside them and pushed his way past to halt in the doorway.

The room was filled with chilled glass cabinets, each holding countless tiny vials filled with a multitude of different coloured liquids. To one side, the cabinets had been shattered, the glass decorated the floor in deadly shards.

In the middle of the room, Kakashi was crouched over the still form of Sakura.

"Sakura?" Iruka moved further into the room. His breath caught in his throat when he looked over Kakashi's shoulder. She was so still, lying on the floor over the broken glass. There was no blood, she looked fine, but she wasn't moving, Iruka couldn't even tell if she was breathing.

His insides clenched together, cramped painfully with shock. She couldn't be… she wasn't…

Kakashi was frowning in concentration as he took her head in his hands and moved her slowly until she was facing the other way. It was then that Iruka saw the two senbon protruding from her neck, just below her ear.

Iruka didn't use senbon, he'd never gotten the hang of them, but he knew that even one senbon, in the right place, with the right amount of pressure, could kill a person. It didn't even need to be poisoned.

Kakashi wrapped his fingers around the two senbon, and pulled.

When the metal needles came free of Sakura's neck, two pricks of blood welled up in their place and began to form dainty rivers down her neck, making tiny puddles on the floor.

"Kakashi," Iruka whispered, he was starting to feel numb, "is she..?"

Sakura's eyes snapped wide open. She dragged in a huge rattling breath, and then promptly proceeded to cough for all she was worth.

Iruka felt weak with relief. He felt the sudden need for a chair.

Kakashi slid his arms around the kunoichi and propped her into a sitting position as she continued to hack away. Iruka smiled as he sighed in relief, and then he noticed how heavy Kakashi's breathing was, as though he had been holding his breath.

The jounin glanced down at the pair of senbon he was holding, scrutinising the tips, red with Sakura's blood. He rubbed absent circles in Sakura's back as he slipped the senbon into his pocket.

"What in the name of Namikaze Minato is going on here?" Tsunade's voice could be heard reverberating down the corridor. Iruka automatically snapped to attention when the small crowd in the doorway shuffled away anxiously and the Hokage came to loom over them all.

"Well?" she demanded, "what the hell… Sakura?"

Sakura's gasps for breath had thinned out, and she blinked up at the Hokage, her hand had moved to press against the two pinpricks on her neck.

"Tsunade-shishou," she breathed, "Kakashi-sensei? What…" her eyes widened almost comically when she glanced at the shattered glass of the medicine cabinets, "Genma!"

Tsunade was beside her in a flash, her face was a mask of quiet fury that was bubbling softly, looking for an outlet, "what happened?"

"Genma-san," Sakura croaked, "he was in here… I asked him what he was doing and then… nothing. Everything went black."

"He stole the antidote to the poison Gai was affected by," Kakashi said evenly, still crouched beside Sakura and rubbing gentle circles into her back. He seemed unaware of the movement of his hand.

"What?" Tsunade glared at him, "why?"

"Because he plans to go after Gai's attackers," Kakashi explained.

Iruka took a step towards them, a frown pulling down on his features. Didn't Kakashi say Genma was going after the man who killed his mother? Was the man who killed her the same man who put Gai in that hospital bed?

"Why the hell would he want to do that?" Tsunade asked, but then her scowl melted away into a dawning realisation. She looked across at the shattered cabinet, and then her face hardened into a glare. "That utter idiot! There's no proof that it's the same person, what did he think he could do by himself anyway? And how does he know where to go?"

Kakashi coughed softly and stood up over Sakura and Tsunade, a guilty shine in his visible eye, "I er… told him."

Tsunade's face went perfectly blank and disturbingly cold. Iruka had the sudden desire to run for the hills, even Sakura flinched. But Iruka's need to stay and defend Kakashi held him rooted to the spot. Kakashi wouldn't do anything that might bring harm to any of his comrades, Iruka knew this as surely as he knew that the sky was up and the ground was down. He may have told Genma where to go, but he hadn't meant to, Iruka knew he hadn't.

"And why," Tsunade said slowly, "would you feel the need to do something like that?"

Kakashi sighed, "I didn't realise."

"A fine excuse that is," Tsunade hissed as she climbed gracefully to her feet. She helped Sakura to stand beside her and scanned the room with narrowed eyes. "He needs to be brought back before he gets himself killed. You three go after him."

Iruka glanced at Kakashi, then at Sakura, and then his eyes widened when he realised that _he_ was the third person Tsunade was referring to. His heart spiralled up into his throat. What help would he be?

Sakura nodded once and moved across the room to Kakashi. The jounin made no sort of reply to the Hokage's orders, he simply turned towards the doorway and strode out without a second glance.

Iruka breathed in, bowed to the Hokage, and followed.

oO0Oo

The sun would be setting soon. The bright glare of the day was mellowing to a deeper golden glow as the sun sank further towards the horizon. Shinichi couldn't help but smile at the way the light glanced off the rooftops; it wasn't the sight that had him in such a good mood, but everything seemed so much more pleasant since he had spoken to Sakura.

The air was growing cooler as the day grew late; a comfortable breeze was dancing through Shinichi's hair, pushing the strands back from his face. He allowed his eyes to drift closed as he wandered down the street, letting the delicate scent of flowers drift over him.

He blinked his eyes open when he felt a familiar spark of chakra, a warm flame of strength moving closer, fast. He turned to look up at the roof of the flower shop just in time to see them. He recognised the pink blur of Sakura's hair first, fleeting as it was, and the black and silver streak he recognised as the Copy-nin. His heart thudded once within his chest and then seemed to stop when he recognised Kakashi, and then he noticed the third shinobi, the schoolteacher, bringing up the rear. They were gone in an instant, racing swiftly over the rooftops.

Shinichi remembered to breathe after a moment. The shock of seeing Kakashi faded as he caught his breath. He had to clench his fists to fight the shaking that travelled through him. It amazed him, that inside he was in turmoil, yet Sharingan Kakashi could continue with his life as though everything was fine. Shinichi's life had been tipped on its hinges, but the Copy-nin was perfectly at ease, perfectly content, completely unaware of what he had done to Shinichi.

Slowly, Shinichi uncurled his fingers. His smile returned, curving his lips. The gnawing ache in his chest was becoming lighter. Kakashi might be able to wander about without a care in the world for now, but Shinichi's revenge was drawing closer. The end was coming into sight and it spread a satisfied joy through him to think of how broken and defeated he could make Sharingan Kakashi.

He breathed in deeply and stepped out into the road, crossing towards the flower shop he had seen Sakura, Kakashi and Umino Iruka travelling over. The wild colours of the flowers cheered him on as he wandered into the shop, congratulating him on his plan to hurt Kakashi.

"Welcome to the Yamanaka flower Shop," the pretty blonde girl behind the counter called out, not looking up from the magazine she was flicking through, "how can I be of assistance?"

She glanced up finally as Shinichi approached her, and the fixed smile on her face widened as she roved her eyes over Shinichi.

"I'm on my way to visit a friend at the hospital," Shinichi smiled down at her, "and I'd like to take him something pretty as a gift."

oO0Oo

He had felt completely defeated when he saw Sakura lying there. He felt like he was being torn apart. For an instant, only an instant, she was dead. And it had been his fault, because if he had taken the time to engage his brain before he opened his big mouth, none of this would be happening, Genma would still be in Konoha, he wouldn't have broken into the hospital and attacked Sakura in the process. For a fleeting moment Sakura was dead and it was Kakashi's fault.

But then he remembered that this was _Genma_ he was thinking about. Genma wouldn't harm one of his comrades, not for anything, not for revenge. Then he saw Sakura take in a faint breath and Kakashi had knelt down beside her to search for the senbon he knew he would find. Genma had incapacitated her, but she was fine, he had just hit a very specific pressure point to take her out of the equation.

But she was back in the equation now, with a vengeance. Kakashi glanced over his shoulder and smiled at the intense look of righteous fury and unshakable determination she was wearing. Her expression was perfectly contrasted by Iruka's, his face was bathed in worry and concern, but he also looked serene, alert and calm as he dashed through the trees. Kakashi had no expression, just a mask and a single eye.

He turned back to regard their path. Genma wasn't in his right mind, he wasn't thinking straight, it was obvious because he had left a trail for them to follow. Kakashi had worked with Genma before, when they were both members of ANBU, and he knew better than most how elusive the special jounin could be when he wanted to. You couldn't find Genma unless he was willing to let you, but the trail he had left in his wake was as clear as day, at least to Kakashi. He could see each footfall in the position of the leaves and the angle of the twigs, Genma wasn't thinking, he hadn't even tried to mask his trail.

The trail was leading them straight to Otafuku Gai.

"Kakashi-sensei," Iruka's voice carried towards Kakashi on the wind, "what do we do if we come across Gai-san's attackers?"

"Nothing," Kakashi replied as he leapt onto another branch, "finding Genma and dragging him home is our first priority, we need to avoid any conflict if we can."

They were getting closer. Kakashi could taste the faint scent of perfume and spice on the air, he could hear a faint hum of activity stretching out from Otafuku Gai.

He dropped onto the forest floor, and waited for Sakura and Iruka to join him.

"What are we waiting for?" Sakura asked as she walked around to face Kakashi.

"I think it's safe to say that he's entered the city," Kakashi replied as he scratched at a half healed cut on his thumb, reopening the small wound there. He watched as a bead of crimson welled up.

He dragged a streak of blood over his palm and flew through the seals to summon Pakkun, stepping back from Sakura so that he could touch his hand to the ground. Smoke swelled out from between his fingers and curled up into the air.

When Kakashi lifted his hand, Pakkun was looking up at him with a bored expression on his squished face. He blinked slowly at Kakashi and then turned his attention to Iruka. His lazy eyes narrowed in suspicion as he looked from Iruka to Kakashi and back again.

"Yo," Kakashi flashed the pug a smile, "I need you to find Genma."

Pakkun gave an odd little jerk, that was supposed to pass for a shrug, "I'll need something to go off, unless you want me to guess what he smells like."

In response, Kakashi reached into one of the pockets of his flak jacket and dropped two senbon onto the ground. Their tips were still stained with Sakura's blood, dried and chipped.

Pakkun grunted and lowered his nose to the metal needles.

"Alright," the pug sighed, "follow me."

oO0Oo

Shinichi thanked the nurse with a low bow before he turned in the direction she had indicated. There was a small bouquet of vibrant daffodils held loosely in his hand. His shoes squeaked over the polished floor as he made his way swiftly towards room 418A.

He was alive with anticipation, a swelling excitement that he had no explaination for.

He knocked once and then palmed open the door.

The first thing he noticed was the girl in the corner, playing with a vase of orchids, rearranging them into something she would prefer. She turned to look at Shinichi when he walked in, her eyebrows lowering in an unspoken challenge.

Shinichi smiled and raised his hand, holding out the daffodils as an explaination for his presence.

Her face relaxed into a smile as she walked towards him, holding out her hands to take the bouquet from him.

Then he drove all of his attention towards the man in the bed.

He was obviously a shinobi. His entire frame was thick with muscle and dotted with scars from what Shinichi could see above the bed sheets. There was a patch of gauze over one of his cheeks and a strip of bandages strapped over his lower arm, but the rest of the flesh looked swollen slightly, and red, as though burnt.

"How is he?" he asked.

"His condition is stable," the girl said in a high, girlish voice as she rummaged around for another vase, but it sounded as though she was simply repeating what she had heard, like she was reading from a script, her voice was flat and devoid of feeling.

"Thank you," Shinichi replied, and he twisted away and left the room as the girl straightened up, a glass vase in her hand and her lips parted as though there was a question on her tongue, but Shinichi was gone before she could speak.

Shinichi pressed the button for the elevator and rocked back on his heels as he waited. Hurting that man before he could recover would be pointless, he wanted it to be a shock, he wanted it to rip Kakashi's heart out. But it wouldn't be the same if this Gai person died while already in hospital. Besides, Shinichi had a plan, and no one would believe that Gai had killed himself if he was unconscious.

But he could be patient. He had waited this long, and now that he knew what the next step was, he could lay in wait and strike when they least suspected.

oO0Oo

Kakashi didn't like the pleasure quarter. He didn't like the gaudy dresses that the women wore, or the smell of sake and bile that permeated everything. He didn't like the tinkling laughter that was as fake as it was pretty, he didn't like knowing that the money in his pocket could buy literally _anything_.

It all reminded him of Rin. She would never wear that much make up, or dress up her hair with cheap looking jewels. She would never flirt and smile and sway her hips to grab attention, she would never be seen dead in the pleasure quarter of Otafuku Gai.

But then she died, and Kakashi spent an entire week intoxicated in a variety of ways in one of the brothels on that very street. It had been Gai who came to find him, slapped some sense into him and made him remember that this was not how Rin would want him to behave.

But just being there reminded him of the despair he had felt when she was killed. He had tried to escape his grief by hiding within the press of bodies in the crowded streets, in the heady aroma of flowers and sex, with a bottle of sake and a prostitute. It had worked for a while, until he had been forced to remember and the pain had been amplified.

Pakkun was leading them down one of the narrow side streets, past tittering girls who smiled and winked from the doorways on either side. Sakura was looking at them with thinly veiled disgust, while Iruka seemed to be doing his utmost to ignore them completely.

Kakashi smiled back at them, listening to them giggle in delight when he bowed to one of the older women slouched under a parasol. He hated the red light district, but he knew that they hated it more. They didn't deserve Sakura's disgust or Iruka's disregard. They were victims of their circumstances, and Kakashi waved back at them as he passed. Manners cost nothing, and even prostitutes deserve to be treated politely.

"How much further?" Sakura hissed at Kakashi's back, watching the girls in the shade with wary eyes.

"Pakkun?" Kakashi asked the pug at his feet.

"Hmm," the pug glanced up at him, "close by. Through here."

They followed Pakkun through one of the yawning doorways, ducking under the purple curtain that hung in the entrance.

They emerged into a bar. The place had the look of an opium den. Scented smoke hung heavily in the air, casting a haze over the patrons. The room wasn't very big, with battered tables and lopsided benches set in rows across their line of vision. The few people seated about looked worse for wear, hanging their heads over glasses of potent looking drinks, some leering at the girls who were flirting furiously with them. The entire place was deep in shadows, hiding the ugliness that was ingrained into everything: the dark circles under the girls' eyes, the stains on the floor, the worn staircase that stretched upwards where the wealthier customers would get taken. Kakashi scanned the room, wanting nothing more to find Genma and get out of there.

It didn't look like there had been a battle there lately, maybe Genma was just having a quiet drink.

"He's in here somewhere," Pakkun rasped.

Kakashi nodded and turned back to Sakura and Iruka. The pink haired kunoichi was frowning at the establishment they had found themselves in, curiosity and outrage warring on her face.

Iruka was blushing. A delicate pink hue had settled across his cheekbones. Kakashi was momentarily mesmerised by it, he felt like he had been punched in the gut. It was as if he had found a fountain of innocence in a den of iniquity.

Of course, he knew that Iruka wasn't as pure of the driven snow, no shinobi was, but Kakashi felt like he was in the process of corrupting Sakura and Iruka and he felt himself shrink with guilt.

He had sent Genma here, and then he had brought Iruka and Sakura here. He simply dragged everyone down.

"Watch the door," he said to them before he turned and strode further into the brothel. He hoped that Genma was downstairs in the bar rather than upstairs, he didn't relish the thought of searching for him up there.

"Hey," Pakkun butted Kakashi's ankles to get his attention, "over there."

Kakashi followed the pug's eyes and looked towards the dark corner, at the hunched figure sitting in the shadows, hidden by the curtain of smoke that acted as a film between them.

"Thanks Pakkun," Kakashi replied softly as he weaved between the tables and the patrons, edging around the girls that reached out to him with beckoning smiles and dead eyes.

"We have to stop meeting like this," Kakashi said cheerfully once he was standing over Genma.

The other shinobi didn't reply, he simply stared into his sake, no expression whatsoever on his face. Kakashi sighed and slid himself into the seat opposite him.

"What are you doing here Genma?" he asked.

Genma looked up briefly, pierced Kakashi's eye with his own before looking back into his drink, allowing a sardonic smile to creep onto his face.

"I don't know," he replied.

Kakashi looked over his shoulder towards the doorway. Iruka was rubbing the scar over his nose and trying to press himself into the wall. Sakura was watching the door, she had her back to Kakashi but her stance belied her discomfort. Kakashi wanted to get everyone out of there and back to Konoha.

"Are you planning to stay here long?" Kakashi asked as he looked back at Genma's bowed head, "or can we go home?"

Genma let out a bitter laugh, "I don't know what I was thinking," he said quietly, "I was just so _angry_. I wanted to find the bastard and hurt him." Genma's hands balled into fists on either side of his drink, his frame became taught even in his slouch, every muscle in his body was tense and ready to snap.

"You don't know if it's the same guy," Kakashi reasoned, "and there's nothing you can do alone. He got the better of Gai's entire team, it was irresponsible of you to take off and hunt him down by yourself."

"I know that!" Genma spat, looking up at Kakashi again with a scowl on his face, "I told you, I don't know what I was thinking!"

"Well what are you thinking now?" Kakashi asked.

Genma shrugged, "I'm thinking I'll get drunk and buy a night with one of these pretty ladies."

Kakashi shook his head. He could relate to that, he done the same think himself once, but it hadn't been the answer then and it wasn't the answer now.

"You're mother would be so proud," he said, hoping to provoke Genma out of the stupor he had descended into.

Genma's hand shot out and fisted in Kakashi's collar. He yanked him across the table until their faces were only inches apart. Genma was practically snarling.

"Don't you dare Hatake!" he hissed dangerously, "don't you fucking dare! You don't know anything about it! You don't know what he did to her!"

"He killed her," Kakashi replied, keeping his voice calm in contrast to the rage quivering in Genma's words.

"He raped her as she was dying!" he snarled, "he poisoned her! He ran his tongue all over her and poisoned her! She died while he was raping her and he got away with it!"

There were hot, angry tears in Genma's eyes, waiting for the opportunity to fall. Kakashi placed his hand over Genma's where it was gripping his shirt, and he gently uncurled his fingers from the fabric.

"Revenge won't bring her back," Kakashi said softly.

"I know that," Genma replied, some of the venom had drained out of his voice.

"And she wouldn't want you to kill yourself trying to avenge her," Kakashi continued as he sank back into his seat, he kept hold of Genma's hand.

Genma shook his head, he screwed his eyes shut, whether to keep something in or block something out, Kakashi didn't know.

"It's not fair," Genma said weakly.

"Whoever said life was fair?" Kakashi asked with a smile.

oO0Oo

There was a tree outside the window of room 418A. A colossal oak tree that stood like a sentinel at the side of the hospital. Shinichi settled into the shade of one of the thick branches, folding his legs underneath him and leaning back into the bark. The sun was just a warm glow on the horizon now, cinders of twilight were clinging to the sky. It was beautiful, but then Shinichi was in a _very_ good mood.

He could see the still form of the shinobi on the bed. The girl was shuffling around, chattering away. Shinichi didn't bother to read her lips, she was talking to nothing, the man on the bed couldn't hear her and there was no one else in the room.

Were any of those flowers from the Copy-nin? Shinichi couldn't imagine Kakashi being the sort of person to buy flowers for an injured friend. He wondered what kind of man Gai was, what would make him friends with Sharingan Kakashi. Not that it mattered, but Shinichi was curious.

He should go back to the teahouse, there was no use in him sitting in the tree all night watching an unconscious man through a window, but he was giddy with anticipation, and he didn't want to leave yet. Excitement was coursing through his veins, and he urged the man to wake up, to heal faster, so that the final stage of Shinichi's plan could be acted out.

The door to the room opened, and a teenager dressed in green spandex stepped in. Shinichi goggled incredulously at the outfit. Who in their right mind would think spandex looked good? _Green_ spandex no less.

The spandex wearing boy and the chattering girl exchanged words, and then the girl left the room while the boy settled into the chair at the bedside and gazed adoringly into the unconscious man's face. There was a hollow sadness in the boy's eyes though as he watched his teacher's chest rise and fall.

Maybe Gai wasn't going to wake up. Shinichi hadn't thought of that, and the idea shot through him with panic. What would he do then? He had no other possible targets.

Shinichi plucked one of the leaves from the branch and began to pull at it, peeling along the leaf's veins. So much could go wrong with his plan, there was so much left up to chance, and he was quickly outstaying his welcome. How long could he remain safely in Konoha? He would be discovered eventually, he just had to have his revenge first. Not for the first time Shinichi wished he could talk to Zabuza, ask him what he would do in Shinichi's situation. Zabuza had always had the answer. Usually he would make Shinichi work for it, but he would always help in the end. Zabuza had been the independent one, and Shinichi had just been the runt who hanged onto his brother's coat tails.

He felt lost without Zabuza. But if he could do this alone, if he could do this one thing by himself, maybe he wouldn't need his brother any more. He could lay Zabuza to rest and step out of his shadow.

He would stop being a failure if he could make Kakashi pay.

oO0Oo

Iruka felt remarkably uncomfortable. Half of the girls who kept winking at him were younger than Sakura, they kept trying to lean into him, batting their eyes and stroking his arm with demure smiles. He pitied them, but somehow he didn't think they would like to be pitied.

Sakura was drinking everything in with hungry, disdainful eyes. He couldn't help but feel that every second they stood there near the doorway she was being corrupted.

He was also aware of the eyes that raked over Sakura's body, and that set his hackles up. He had to try very hard not to slam their perverted faces into the nearest wall. Luckily Sakura seemed oblivious to their stares, and Iruka had never been so grateful. But it made him uncomfortable nonetheless.

There was something else that bristled at him. Kakashi seemed to be perfectly at home in the pleasure quarter. He had smiled and waved and even _bowed_ to the prostitutes in the street, making them giggle and blush as he passed by, and for some unfathomable reason it made Iruka angry. A number of times he had very nearly grabbed Kakashi and held onto him in the street, it was a strange possessive urge that he had clamped down on and ignored. He had tried to ignore everything: the giggling girls who tried to draw them in, and Kakashi who smiled at them like they might have a chance.

It rankled him. The sooner they left the better.

"Iruka-sensei," Sakura huffed impatiently, "what is Genma-san doing in a place like this?"

Iruka sighed as he looked over towards Kakashi, "I don't know Sakura."

He straightened up abruptly when he saw Genma grab Kakashi and pull him halfway across the table. He couldn't really see what was going on, but it didn't look like they were just having a friendly conversation.

"Hello pretty," a silken voice chuckled behind him. He turned to see Sakura inching away from one of the drunken customers, "is that your natural hair colour?"

Iruka glared at the man and put his arm over Sakura's shoulders, "she's with me," she warned.

The drunk looked up at him. His cheeks were splotchy and his eyes were unfocused.

"Sure you don't want to share?" he asked, "I'm not convinced that's her natural hair colour. I want to see if the curtains match the carpet."

Iruka didn't have time to pull Sakura away before the drunk's hand snaked around her waist, pulling her closer to him. Iruka balled his hand into a fist, more than prepared to beat the pervert into the next month, when Sakura beat him to it.

"GET…" she pulled her fist back, "OFF!"

A flare of chakra glowed around her hand as she threw her fist into his face. There was an ugly, wet, crunching sound, and then a shattering crash as the drunk went sailing through the air and then through the flimsy wall that divided the bar from the next room, where a small group of men appeared to be playing cards. Iruka winced at the sight of the massive hole in the wall.

The drunk had landed on the table where the men next door were seated, crunching it under his weight and sending a flock of cards fluttering into the air.

The men playing cards jumped to their feet, all but one man, who was draped in a heavy brown cloak that covered him entirely. The hood fell over his face, obscuring all but the tip of his chin. Something glistened on the man's chin, it looked like he was drooling. He simply sat there, with his cards fanned out in his hand even though the table had been decimated.

"Well well," the drooling man purred behind the hood of his cloak, "more Konoha ninja." He turned to the man at his right, who was glaring sharply at Iruka with narrow eyes, "they're like insects aren't they. The more you squash, the more that come out of the woodwork."

Iruka breathed in sharply and nudged Sakura behind him. Wasn't this just brilliant, they came to find Genma and they end up getting into a fight. Kakashi would probably be disappointed in him for screwing everything up so royally; there must have been a better way to handle that rather than throwing that guy through a wall.

"We're sorry for interrupting your game," Iruka said, "it won't happen again."

"No matter," the man in the cloak said, and as he moved his head Iruka thought he caught a glimpse of the man's grin beneath the hood, slick with saliva that dripped down his chin, "I was getting bored of poker, but there is another sport I quite enjoy. Perhaps you'd like to entertain me."

Iruka felt relief surge through him when he felt a familiar presence at his back. He didn't turn to look, but he could feel Kakashi standing behind him, a solid presence that seemed to chase away any anxiety Iruka had had.

"Time to go," Kakashi said firmly, as much to the men sitting in the next room, through the shattered wall as to Iruka and Sakura.

"Sharingan Kakashi," the hooded man purred, "I never thought I'd see you again. You've grown."

This time Iruka did look. He glanced up at Kakashi over his shoulder and took in the narrowed eye and wary stance that the jounin had adopted. Pakkun was flopped over Kakashi's shoulder, and Genma was standing next to him, looking tired and grim but at least he was there. His obligatory senbon was gripped between his teeth.

Iruka turned back to the hooded man, and froze when he saw the hood pushed back, revealing a scarred face and a wide, drooling mouth, with gnarled, blackened teeth. There was a hitai-ate wrapped around his neck, with a deep scratch engraved in the metal. He was a missing-nin from Hidden Rock.

Iruka glanced up at Kakashi again and saw only confusion in his eye.

"You don't recognise me," the missing-nin smiled, and the stretch of his lips made Iruka's stomach churn, "I'm not surprised. I'll just have to refresh your memory."

The missing-nin finally stood up, releasing the fan of cards in his hand and letting them float to the ground. Everyone in the bar had gone deadly still, watching fearfully as the shinobi regarded one another.

Iruka heard a soft clinking sound, and when he turned to look he saw Genma's senbon on the floor, having fallen from between his lips.

"That's him," Genma whispered angrily, "Kakashi, that's him!"

oO0Oo

Kakashi dropped his hand onto Genma's shoulder, an effort to reign him in. He could feel Genma shuddering with anger, tensing up to pounce.

"We were just leaving," Kakashi said.

The missing-nin shook his head, a slow deliberate movement, "I think not."

Kakashi absorbed his surroundings in a split second, he took note of the exits, the number of people standing in the bar. They couldn't fight in that building, there were too many civilians around who would get hurt.

He gripped the material of Genma's flak jacket in the hand that was resting on his shoulder, his other hand snaked around Iruka's back and clamped down onto Sakura's arm.

When he had everyone within his reach he smiled cheerfully at the missing-nin, "nice to see you again, whoever you are, but I'm afraid we're running late."

In one quick movement he pulled everyone closer to him. His ears popped almost painfully as they were crushed by a thick whirl of smoke, and then the acrid tang of ozone faded away.

He had transported them onto the roof of the building. He hated doing that with other people, it always left him slightly dizzy, and transporting three people with him at the same time had the unfortunate side effect of a wave of nausea. It wasn't easy to manipulate another person's chakra enough to perform the jutsu, much less three peoples'. He let go of Genma's shoulder and Sakura's arm as he drank in a breath of air, and cracked open his eyes. He ended up looking right into Iruka's.

In the process of pulling them all closer to him he had crushed Iruka into his chest. He hadn't realised until then, but Iruka hadn't moved away, he was still pressed up against Kakashi on the rooftop, with his hands against Kakashi's chest, one palm resting over Kakashi's heart.

He still smelled like jasmine. It was fast becoming Kakashi's favourite scent. For a moment the world was only jasmine and brown eyes, nothing else.

Then Kakashi became aware that Genma was talking to him.

"Hatake!" Genma grabbed Kakashi by the arm and jerked him around to face him, "what the hell is wrong with you? That was him! It was him!"

"I realise that," Kakashi said as he pried Genma's fingers from around his arm, "we aren't fighting anyone in the middle of a brothel, let's go!"

The sun had finally set, there was only a strip of glowing embers on the horizon. Otafuku Gai was bathed in darkness but for the colours that shone out of the countless lanterns hanging in the streets. Kakashi had no doubt that if that missing-nin wanted to fight them, then he would find them, but Kakashi was determined to get them out of the city first. He couldn't do battle surrounded by innocent bystanders, and if they could reach the forest then he might be able to use the darkness of the night to his advantage.

"Pakkun, I think you've done your job for today," Kakashi muttered to the dog draped over his shoulder.

"You don't need to tell me twice," the dog replied before he vanished in a cloud of smoke, leaving Kakashi's shoulder lighter without his weight.

He gave Sakura a gentle shove in the right direction and then set off across the rooftops towards the edge of the city. He could hear Genma grumbling behind him, but at least he was following.

He leapt onto the next roof and skidded to a halt, just as two of the men who had been playing cards with the missing-nin jumped up onto the rooftop to face them.

"The boss wants to play," one of them said simply, before they faded out of sight into the growing darkness and the building they were standing on lurched.

The explosion resounded through the streets, sending a blast of bricks and dust over the screaming crowds below. Kakashi snatched his arm out to grab Sakura before she could topple over the edge of the roof as the entire building shook.

"Great!" Genma sneered, "what now?"

Kakashi was about to reply when he felt it, a vibration shuddering up from below. He had the wits to shove Sakura towards Iruka and Genma just as the roof right beneath his feet exploded. He heard someone yell his name, and then he was falling.


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

Iruka stumbled when Sakura was thrust into him. He clamped his arms around her as a violent tremor wracked the building again, and he sent chakra to his feet to keep himself upright. The need to get off the building was becoming more pronounced, he could practically feel the structure wavering beneath his feet, preparing to crumble.

He turned back to Kakashi, confident in the knowledge that the jounin would be in control of the situation, that he would know what to do, but all he saw was a gloved hand disappearing though the gaping wound in the rooftop.

"Kakashi!"

He reached out to grab the hand, to hold onto Kakashi and stop him from falling, but he was too far away, Sakura was still in his arms, and before he had even finished yelling Kakashi's name the building had swallowed him.

A wave of helplessness crashed over him, threatening to sweep him away. Kakashi had fallen and Iruka hadn't been able to stop it; he didn't know what he was supposed to do next, what their next move was supposed to be. Kakashi couldn't be gone, he couldn't leave them like this.

Iruka's thoughts slowed while the world seemed to speed up. He couldn't look away from the hole in the roof that had claimed Kakashi, but beneath him he could still feel the insistent lurches of the building, he could still hear the terrified screams of the civilians below, and Genma was moving, staggering towards him with determined purpose written into his face.

"Move!" Genma's hands on Iruka's shoulders were like clamps of steel, turning him towards the edge of the rooftop and pushing insistently.

His feet didn't feel like his own, they weren't listening to his commands. He knew they had to get off the roof, but his body didn't want to leave the last place he had seen Kakashi.

Then Sakura struggled in Iruka's grasp, trying to twist away, back to the jagged rip that had cracked into the roof, and Iruka willed himself to follow Genma. He had to stop thinking about Kakashi and start thinking about getting Sakura to safety.

He tightened his hold on the small kunoichi and kicked off the roof, following Genma to the ground below as another shudder ran up through the walls of the building.

He hit the ground beside Genma hard, the bones of his legs were jarred at the impact and he grunted as his knees hit the floor. Sakura twisted away and wrenched herself from Iruka's grasp, racing fitfully towards the building they had just leapt from.

"Sakura! Come back!" Iruka stumbled to his feet and stepped after her, when the deep rumbling sound that shook outwards from the building made him pause.

"We have to get Kakashi-sensei out of there!" she yelled back at him, with panic tearing at her voice.

Iruka could see the wall shaking, dust was pouring down and cracks were peppering the brickwork. Sakura halted a few feet away from the wall, looking up at the building with wide, fearful eyes.

Iruka launched himself towards her, wrapped his arms around her waist and threw himself to the side just as the wall shuddered and fell out onto the street in a shower of debris.

Iruka landed on his side, hard enough that there would be bruises, but still clinging to Sakura who had gone limp as she saw the wall collapse. Iruka blinked the dust out of his eyes and looked back towards the building, just in time to see the entire structure quake one final time with a thunderous groan before it began to crumble. It folded in on itself, coughing up a hail of smoke and dust, rendered to nothing more than ruins and rubble.

Somewhere in Iruka's mind, one singe thought echoed back and forth, waiting to be accepted.

_Kakashi was in there._

"Oh…" he heard Sakura gasp softly as she propped herself up and looked over the devastation, "he… he got out, right?"

She turned to look back at Iruka, a silent plea in her eyes, but Iruka had no answer for her. He didn't know if Kakashi had got out. If he had, where was he?

He turned to look for Genma, to find out if the special jounin knew what had befallen Kakashi. But Genma was gone. Iruka passed his gaze over the deserted street. It was empty but for him and Sakura, everyone had fled, along with Genma it would seem.

Iruka's sense of helplessness was suddenly decimated in the path of his anger. Genma had left. They were there to find Genma; Kakashi had been crushed beneath a building, they had a group of missing-nin after them, all because they had been trying to get Genma home safely, and the wretch had abandoned them.

Iruka pushed himself to his feet, practically shaking with the need to hurt something. His anger had exploded in his belly, licking up into his chest like white hot flames. He could push away his anxiety with this anger, he could ignore the twisting in his gut at the thought of Kakashi lying broken beneath the rubble.

"Look!" Sakura cried suddenly, still sprawled on the ground, pointing towards the crushed building with a look of hopeful delight.

Iruka looked towards the ruins, bathed in pale moonlight that highlighted the jagged edges of the rubble. His heart almost exploded in his chest when he saw what Sakura was pointing to, a figure was moving through the destruction, walking over the debris with a slight swagger.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura almost laughed as she hopped to her feet and began to move towards the shadowed silhouette.

Iruka's guts turned to ice, he snatched his hand out to grab Sakura's arm, holding her firmly beside him as he scrutinised the stranger making his way towards them.

"That's not Kakashi-sensei," Iruka said quietly as the figure stopped atop the ruins. A sliver of moonlight shot across his face, illuminating the stony glare of the man from the brothel, the one who had been standing beside the missing-nin in the hooded cloak.

Sakura tensed beside him. Iruka let go of her arm when he was sure she wasn't about to go racing off towards their enemy. The figure across the street from them was holding something in his hands: the handles of what looked like whips, only they were long and tapered, far too long to be controlled like any normal whips.

"Where are your friends?" the man asked conversationally.

"Where are yours?" Iruka replied, his mind working faster than it ever had, trying to find a route out of their situation.

"I don't need them," the man answered as he rotated his wrists, causing the whips to writhe like beastly snakes around his feet.

"What makes you think we need ours?" Iruka asked in return, sliding his feet across the ground to adopt a fighting stance.

The man opposite them merely smiled, and flicked his wrist.

Iruka felt the surge of chakra before he saw the whip move. Chakra had been infused into the weapon, sending it soaring towards them like a deadly vine. Iruka grabbed Sakura and shoved her back to the ground, covering her smaller frame with his own as the whip snapped over them, breaking the air only inches over his back.

He felt the vibrations through the ground, the sound of another explosion that blasted out from behind them. Iruka turned his head to see what was happening. The whip had cracked clear through the wall of the building behind them, he watched it slice a destructive line across the wall, tearing the building in two as it was wrenched to the side and licked back towards its wielder.

Iruka snapped his head back around to glare at the man across the street. He suddenly knew what had torn down the building they had been standing on, that had fallen down on Kakashi. It had been razed to the ground by that man's chakra infused whips.

_Kakashi was in there._

Iruka slowly climbed back to his feet and glowered back at their opponent.

"Any last words?" Iruka growled as he cracked his knuckles and dropped back into a fighting stance.

oO0Oo

Kakashi hissed inwards and brought his hand up to his head. He could feel his brain throbbing, and there was a sticky warmth matting his hair and oozing out onto his fingers.

He cracked his eye open and swayed slightly when he saw the world turning. He need to get his bearings and get back to the others. The building had already started to collapse on him when he performed the transportation jutsu; something very hard and very heavy had slammed into his skull from above before he could focus on a destination. The jutsu had simply taken him back to the last place he had materialised: the roof of the brothel where he had found Genma. He was lucky he hadn't transported himself into a wall.

He lowered his hand and frowned at the thick gloss of blood that darkened his palm. He would probably have a concussion, but he could suffer later, first he had to find Iruka, Sakura and Genma. It was too dangerous for them to be separated, his guts clenched with anxiety over their predicament. He couldn't protect them if he wasn't with them.

With the reflexes that decades of training and experience granted him, he cocked his head to the side, and watched the delicate shape of a small dagger flit past his ear and embed itself in the rooftop of the next building.

"That wasn't very nice," he sighed wearily, pressing his hand against the wound to his head once again. It was still bleeding, but head wounds had a nasty tendency to do that. He turned around, grateful that the world had stopped spinning for the time being, and took in the presence of the two men who had joined him on the roof.

"Really," Kakashi groaned, "are you _that_ upset about us interrupting your poker game?"

The one to the right plucked two more small daggers from his belt and proceeded to spin them around his fingers lazily, his eyes narrowing to slits as he watched Kakashi for any movement.

"I've heard stories about you," the man said.

"Really?" Kakashi grinned, "don't believe any of it. I'm a fine upstanding citizen. The epitome of moral integrity. Honest."

The man's eyes narrowed further; the spinning of the daggers in his hands sped up. The other man just chuckled softly and shook his head.

"You're Sharingan Kakashi," the first man growled as his daggers blurred through his fingers, "Master of a Thousand Jutsu."

"Actually," Kakashi pondered, "I think it's more than a thousand now. I lost count a while back."

The other man, the one without the daggers, took a step towards Kakashi. His arms were empty of any weapons, and there was an amused smile on his face, but Kakashi tensed up at the approach anyway.

"Our boss wants to know if you can live up to your legend," he said with a smile.

Kakashi shrugged, "I guess he'll just have to wait for my autobiography to come out and form his own opinion."

The man with the daggers snarled at Kakashi's words, but his companion seemed greatly amused, his smile widened and his shoulders seemed to shake slightly with mirth.

"I'm afraid he's not willing to wait that long," he replied, "but for what it's worth, it's been an honour meeting you."

The man continued smiling as he clapped his hands together. When he moved his palms apart, widening his arms as though waiting for an embrace, Kakashi felt something blow through him, something cold and numbing that shimmered outwards from his opponents hands.

"Now," the man smiled, holding his arms out wide, "don't move."

Kakashi frowned and lowered his hand from his head, or he tried to. His hand refused to move, his arm was locked in place. His heart thudded with panic that he quickly suppressed as he tried to move, to step forwards, or backwards or in any direction at all. But it soon became obvious that he couldn't even turn his head, he felt as though he had turned to stone.

The smiling man was watching him with barely suppressed glee, his arms still held out in that welcoming posture. Kakashi glared at him, wondering if he could move his face at all to accommodate the expression.

He couldn't even blink. His eyes were starting to itch.

"Good," the man opposite him said, "how would you like to die Kakashi-san?"

Kakashi didn't try to respond, he wasn't sure if he would be able to anyway. He felt completely rigid, his whole body felt numb.

"Take out a kunai," the man's smile grew wider. Kakashi felt a jolt of panic shoot through every vein in his body when his hand went for the kunai holster at his thigh. He couldn't feel his limbs, he couldn't look down to see what his hand was doing, but in his peripheral vision he watched his arm shift, and he knew that his body was doing just as his enemy commanded.

"Don't kill him too fast," the man with the daggers growled, "make it slow. I want this to be something I can tell my grandkids."

The other man didn't look away from Kakashi when he replied, he kept eye contact, "I can't keep this up forever."

That was when Kakashi noticed that he wasn't the only one who hadn't blinked yet. Whatever that guy was doing to him involved constant eye contact. Kakashi tried to speak, to keep them talking until the urge to blink overwhelmed his opponent, but his throat had frozen too, his lips wouldn't move.

"Fine," the daggers began spinning again, "let's get it over with then."

"Kakashi-san," the smiling man breathed, "cut your throat."

Kakashi could only wait for the kunai to reach his neck.

oO0Oo

Shinichi plucked a fresh leaf from the branch above and used the light pouring out of the hospital window to tear along its delicate veins. The sky was a pitch canvas with tiny pinpricks for stars that glinted down over the village. The green spandexed boy was still sitting beside the unconscious form of his sensei, speaking occasionally, with wild hand gestures interspersed with sparkling smiles. But for the most part the boy was still and silent. Shinichi was bored by now.

He supposed he could go back to the teahouse. It was starting to get chilly; the sharp wind that upset the leaves every so often was the only think preventing Shinichi's eyes from falling shut. His excitement had abated over the past couple of hours, there was still a twinge of anticipation that sang through his veins every now and then, but his high had diminished.

With a sigh he shifted into a crouch on the branch, prepared to drop down to the ground and retire for the night. He cast one last glance through the window, at the boy sitting beside the bed, staring glumly at his hands, and the man lying unconscious who had suddenly… blinked?

Shinichi froze and held his breath, his eyes drilling into the man's face.

Gai blinked again and opened his eyes. The boy had yet to notice, he was still looking at his hands resting in his lap, his lips were moving again, speaking to his teacher who he assumed to still be unconscious. Then the man smiled, his hand twitched, and the movement finally caught the boy's attention.

Shinichi watched as the boy leapt into the air, grinning madly down at Gai and waving his hands about furiously as he began yelling something, still grinning for all he was worth. Then his eyes glistened as he fell over his teacher's chest and began to sob like Shinichi had never seen before.

Shinichi laughed. He couldn't help it. Gai was awake, he'd be fine, which meant that Shinichi had the perfect target. He was about to settle back into his seat, to resume watching, when Gai's smile turned into a frown, and his head turned slightly so that he could peer out of the window.

Shinichi's breath caught; he couldn't see him, could he? Outside was pitch black, inside the lights were blinding, surely Gai wouldn't be able to see through the glass with the light reflected off it, all he would see was his own reflection.

But Gai was looking directly at him, and Shinichi's heart clenched in his chest. He dropped from the branch as quickly as he could, and raced out of the hospital courtyard.

When he was wandering through the streets back towards the teahouse, he allowed himself to laugh again. He was thrumming with excitement again, giddiness was dancing in his stomach, beating in his chest. Now all he had to think about was where and when, and the anticipation was almost unbearable.

He wanted to see Kakashi crumble when he finally avenged his brother. Then he would be free, he could truly lay Zabuza to rest and carry on with his life. The longing for it to be over was an ache inside him. It was just a matter of time now, and he was buzzing with anticipation.

oO0Oo

Iruka leapt upwards when the whips snaked through the air again. He kicked off from the wall behind him and landed further up the deserted street, away from Sakura. He hoped that their opponent would focus all of their attention on him, that Sakura would be safe if he could keep their enemy occupied. But the other man had _two_ whips, and when Iruka leapt away only one chased after him, the other darted straight for Sakura.

"Sakura!" Iruka screamed, "get out of the way!"

But Sakura was rooted to the spot, she wasn't moving, and in the moment that Iruka's attention had been focused on her, the whip dancing towards him had caught him. It hit him so hard that he thought he had been broken in two. The chakra strengthened length wrapped around him, binding his upper body like an iron vice. All of the air was expelled from his lungs, the whip was squeezing the very life out of him.

As he tried to breath, he looked back towards Sakura, expecting to see her in the same position as him. They would both end up dead; Iruka had been no more able to save Sakura than he had Kakashi, why had Tsunade sent him along? He was nothing but a hindrance; the entire team would end up dead.

But Sakura wasn't in the same situation that Iruka was in. His heart leapt up into his throat when he blinked away the moisture in his eyes to watch her. Rather than get caught by the whip, she had grabbed hold of it. She was holding the length in her fists, her teeth bared in an angry scowl as she pulled on the whip with a strength Iruka had not expected.

He _should_ have expected, he realised it then as he watched her pull the whip, and so drag their enemy closer to her along the ground. She had been studying under Tsunade after all, Iruka should have seen this coming. Sakura wasn't the childish little girl who had been in his class not so long ago, he had to stop thinking of ways to protect her and start thinking of ways to work alongside her.

He let out a strangled sound when the whip tightened around him. He felt something crack, his left side exploded in a fierce pain, hot and consuming that ate into him. His vision had started to swim, something had definitely been broken, but he had suffered worse, and if Sakura was still fighting then he'd be damned if he'd let something like a broken rib throw him out of the fight.

He uncurled his palm, revealing the explosive tag he had retrieved from his pouch minutes earlier, and angled his hand so that he could attach it to the whip binding him.

Sakura was still pulling on the whip, and by now their opponent realised that his strength was not going to cut it against her's. His feet were sliding over the ground, taking him closer and closer to her. As soon as he was in range Sakura was bound to use that strength to rip him limb from limb, and by the expression on the man's face, he realised this.

The whips around Iruka gave one last painful squeeze, before they loosened and slinked away. Iruka gasped for breath as he collapsed to the ground, gripping his left side with a pained wince. The whip he had been captured by was sailing through the air towards Sakura.

"Sakura!" Iruka yelled, his voice hoarse and broken, "Sakura! Move!"

The kunoichi's green eyes flickered towards the whip heading straight for her face, and she released the whip in her hands to jump backwards.

The ground where Sakura had been standing erupted in a shower of earth and dirt as the whip pummelled into it. Iruka breathed in again, each breath a flare of pain that shook through him. He knelt up to search the area for Sakura, but the kunoichi landed at his side in an instant, glaring hotly at the man who she had almost had in her clutches.

The whips writhed on the ground, slithering back towards their owner as they had done each time he had sent them outwards, they always returned to dance at his feet. Iruka looked up towards their opponent, who was watching Sakura with a confused sort of respect.

"I can see I'll have to resort to other ways of killing you," he said calmly, "who would think that someone so delicate would be so strong?"

Iruka coughed and let a smile creep onto his face, "any last words," he said again.

Their opponent only had time to cast him a confused frown when Iruka slammed his hands together to form a seal. The explosive tag attached to the whip at their enemy's feet detonated. The explosion shook the ground.

Sakura's eyes were as wide as saucers as she watched the man torn apart in the blast. Iruka could see blood falling like rain reflected in her eyes, and he felt his insides clench together in sudden fear. He didn't want her to see him as that person, as a killer. He was a shinobi, but she had only ever known him as a teacher, and teachers do not make people blow up. The pain in his side was forgotten as he watched her face fall into an expressionless mask. He didn't want this to push Sakura away from him; he didn't want her to see him as a killer.

"Iruka-sensei," she whispered, still looking at the place their opponent had been standing, then she turned to look at him, and her eyes seemed to come alive, "that was fucking awesome."

Iruka's whole body went limp. He fell back onto his ass and could only look at her in numb shock.

"Oh," she gasped as she looked down at his side, "here, let me fix that!" Her hand began to glow with chakra, and Iruka let her press her palm to his side, pulsing healing warmth into him.

Really, he had to remember that Sakura was a shinobi, she was no longer the little girl who brought him flowers in the morning before class. He smiled at the look of intense concentration on her face, and let her knit his bones back together again.

"You shouldn't swear Sakura."

"Sorry Iruka-sensei."

oO0Oo

He couldn't feel the blade at his neck. He was utterly numb, he couldn't feel anything but the itching of his eye as it watered from being open so long. But he waited and waited for the end to come, for the kunai to rip his throat open, only for some reason the moment stretched on, and nothing happened.

His opponent's eyes were wide and unseeing, and after a moment, he crumbled to the ground.

Kakashi turned his wrist, angling the kunai away from him. The blade had sliced through his flesh, through the material of his mask, spraying blood outwards into the night air, but the kunai hadn't gone very deep. He wasn't dead. The numbness was creeping out of him, he could feel his body once again.

He shoved his hitai-ate up before turning back to his opponents to find out what the hell just happened.

The man with the daggers was staring at his comrades limp body with wide surprised eyes. He didn't see the shinobi standing behind him.

"You took your time," Kakashi said.

"I saved your ass," Genma replied, "have a little gratitude."

"I had the situation under control," Kakashi sniffed as he wandered towards the body lying a few feet away from him. There were three senbon in the man's neck and one in his temple, oozing blood.

"Yeah right," Genma scoffed.

The remaining enemy shinobi leap back to regard both Kakashi and Genma with a fierce glare, his daggers gripped in his hands.

"Is he dead?" Kakashi kicked the body lying at his feet.

"As a dodo," Genma replied.

Kakashi looked up at Genma, and felt an intense need to see Iruka, to make sure that the chuunin was alright, to see him smile again.

But Iruka and Sakura were nowhere to be found, and anxiety hammered in his chest. He opened his mouth to ask Genma where they were, but the special jounin spoke first.

"Where is he?"

"Who?" Kakashi asked.

Genma's brow narrowed angrily, "who do you think? The bastard I came here for!"

Before Kakashi could reply, he twirled to the side, evading the two daggers that had shot towards him. At the same time Genma sidestepped, dodging two more daggers that had been thrown in his direction.

The enemy shinobi slid two more daggers from his belt, he certainly had a healthy number of the small weapons, but he would run out eventually if he continued throwing them at Kakashi and Genma.

Genma clucked angrily, the senbon in his mouth waved, "please. Who do you think you're dealing with here?"

But their opponent simply smiled, and as he aimed the fresh daggers towards Genma, Kakashi noticed the wires.

"Genma look out!"

Kakashi leapt to the side as the two daggers that had missed him shot back towards him. The chakra wires attached to them were controlling their trajectory. Genma wasn't fast enough, he gave an irritated glance to Kakashi when the daggers that he had sidestepped before sliced through the air towards him again. Their opponent released the two daggers in his hands, throwing them towards Genma with a deadly intent.

Kakashi dodged the daggers following him again as he watched Genma's capture. There was nothing he could do as the daggers circled the special jounin, wrapping the chakra wires around him, binding his arms to his sides. The daggers on the end of the wires finally thunked into his flesh; into his back, his chest, his abdomen, dragging a shocked yell from Genma's lips, the senbon in his mouth clattered to the ground.

Kakashi used the kunai in his hand to deflect the daggers coming towards him, but they were unrelenting, they simply swerved in the air and soared straight back towards him. More daggers were joining in the chase, and all he could do was evade them, dancing upon the rooftop as the glinting blades swept towards him like a swarm of angry wasps.

"Kakashi!" Genma shouted, wriggling uselessly within his bindings, blood dribbling from the wounds the daggers had caused, "get your ass in gear! Kill the fucker!"

Kakashi sent his kunai across the rooftop, towards their opponent with soundless speed. Before it could hit its target, one of the daggers crashed into it, veering it off course and sending it into the tiles instead.

The tomoe of Kakashi's Sharingan spun with growing intensity as he watched the web of chakra wires that were trying to trap him. The daggers flitted around him, threading the wires through the air, but no matter how fast they weaved, he was faster.

"Kakashi!" Genma yelled, and when Kakashi looked he noticed the pale hue of Genma's skin, and the sheen of sweat that had appeared on his face. "The daggers are poisoned Kakashi!"

One of the daggers scraped through Kakashi's flak jacket, slicing the green material but leaving his skin unharmed. Concern for himself was outweighed by his concern for Genma who had been stabbed with four of the daggers, his efforts to wriggle free of the wires trapping him were becoming slow and feeble.

"Enough," Kakashi decided. His Sharingan followed the length of wires from the ends of the daggers back to the fingertips of their opponent, and as he dodged the small weapons, he pulled two shuriken from his weapons pouch and tossed them with all the force his fingers could command towards his enemy.

Two of the daggers swerved away from Kakashi and knocked the shuriken off course, but Kakashi flicked his fingers and the shuriken circled through the air, tugged by the chakra wires attaching them to Kakashi's fingertips.

The shuriken flew around their opponent, and the man only had a moment of realisation before both glinting stars imbedded themselves into the flesh of his neck.

The daggers wavered in the air for a split second before they clattered to the rooftop, the chakra wires extinguished as their wielder died.

"About time," Genma said, but his voice was a soft rasp, his breaths were loud and shaky. Kakashi stepped towards him, but he paused at the sound of clapping coming from behind him.

"Not bad," the missing-nin purred, his mouth was twisted upwards into a demonic smile, the saliva dripping thickly from his chin, "but nothing less that I would expect from the infamous Copy-nin."

Kakashi turned to face him, his Sharingan working to calculate the sheer amount of chakra the man had at his command. His stamina was far more that Kakashi's was, and the reality of their situation suddenly made Kakashi's blood run cold. They wouldn't be able to defeat him, he was incredibly grateful that Iruka and Sakura were elsewhere if he was going to be forced to pit his skills against this guy.

"What do you want?" Kakashi asked, one eye on Genma, the other on the missing-nin.

The twisted smile on the man's face sank downwards into a snarl, and he raised his hand to the hitai-ate wrapped around his neck.

"Just to return the favour," he growled as he pulled the hitai-ate from around his throat. The headband clanked upon the tiles when it hit the rooftop, the moonlight slanted over the missing-nin's scarred visage, over the dark scar that ran across his neck. Someone had slit his throat at one time, but he was still alive.

_Return the favour._ The gears of Kakashi's mind were churning madly, trying to recall if he had ever seen this man, but he was sure that he hadn't. He would remember the ugly scars that mangled his face, and the poisonous saliva that glistened on his chin, the blackened teeth that were gnarled like old roots.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Kakashi replied, listening for Genma's pained breathing.

The missing-nin's lips turned upwards into a gruesome smile once again, "no? I suppose I should be offended, but there were a lot of us, I don't suppose I should expect you to remember me out of the entire squadron that you and the blonde you used to play with slaughtered."

"What are you talking about?" Kakashi edged further towards Genma, the only plan he had was to grab the special jounin and make a run for it.

The missing-nin cocked his head to the side, smiling indulgently at Kakashi, "You wandered into our campsite in the middle of the night, completely alone with an armful of kunai, don't you remember?"

Kakashi shook his head, but the scenario seemed familiar. He couldn't remember this man, but he had a pretty decent idea of what he was talking about.

"Flee on sight, that was the order wasn't it?" the missing-nin pursed his lips, "only we didn't see him. We only saw you, a little boy who suddenly appeared in the middle of the camp."

Kakashi couldn't remember the specific event the man was talking about, but he could remember the strategy he and the Yellow Flash had developed, "I threw the kunai all around the campsite."

"Yes," the missing-nin hissed triumphantly, "I couldn't stop laughing, I thought you had simply missed all of your targets, the kunai didn't hit anything. But then my neck had been sliced open, and my comrades were all dead, and you were wandering away with the Yellow Flash of Konoha. You should have checked that everyone was dead."

"What do you want from me?" Kakashi asked angrily, "we were at war, what did you expect would happen if you invaded Fire Country?"

"I expected a battle," the missing-nin frowned, but his voice was even and calm, if a chilled as ice, "I had no qualms about dying in battle, but we weren't even given the chance to defend ourselves. There was no battle, it was an execution."

"So what now?" Kakashi glared at him, "you want revenge?"

The missing-nin shook his head, "I had never even contemplated revenge until I saw you earlier. I had forgotten all about it, but now that you are here I see no reason to let you live. Let's call it… karma."

The missing-nin jerked to the side when Genma flicked three senbon towards him. The senbon missed, but in the moment that the missing-nin was not training his eyes on them, Kakashi swept to the side and whipped Genma up into his arms to leap down to the street below.

They landed in the midst of four more shinobi, the rest of the poker players who had been with the missing Rock-nin.

"You were right," Kakashi sighed to Genma as he placed the special jounin on the ground, propped up in the doorway of the brothel, "life isn't fair."

"Whoever said it was?" Genma rasped as Kakashi pulled the daggers from his body, spraying blood across the dusty step of the brothel entrance.

Kakashi turned back to regard the four enemy shinobi penning them in. Above them the missing-nin was seated comfortably on the edge of the rooftop, legs crossed and watching them with a small smile.

"Kill them," he grinned.

oO0Oo

"Iruka-sensei?" Sakura looked up at him, "where are we going?"

Iruka glanced quickly around the corner, "our mission is to find Genma and take him back to Konoha."

"But… what about Kakashi-sensei?" she asked.

Iruka's heart twisted. His entire body went weak for an instant as he thought about Kakashi, about how he had been right there, only feet away from them, and then he had fallen. Iruka should have grabbed his hand, he should have been faster.

Iruka steeled himself against those feelings. They would only get in the way now, he had to focus on completing their mission, and he had a pretty good idea of where they would find Genma.

Iruka beckoned to Sakura and dashed around the corner, racing silently down the narrow alley and coming to a halt at the other end, where the alley opened up onto the next street. He could hear the scrabble of feet over the ground, muffled grunts and then a sudden roar and a flash of flames from around the corner.

It would seem that they had found Genma. Iruka peered around the corner to find out what they were up against, and every muscle in his body turned to liquid. He almost fell to his knees as something inside him burst with relief and sheer gladness.

He watched Kakashi slam his palm into the chest of one of his attackers and send him crashing into the wall across the street.

"Iruka-sensei?" Sakura touched his arm, "what is it?"

"Kakashi," Iruka whispered, a smile dawning on his face, "it's Kakashi."

oO0Oo

Shinichi started whistling. It was a cheerful tune that he had heard once, a very long time ago, but he couldn't recall where. It simply reminded him of humid summers and colourful ice cream, sticky fingers that left prints over the doorknobs and the table. Bath-times full of splashes and muddy footprints on the tiles, and a scowling Zabuza holding a towel, with mud in his hair and murder in his eyes.

He was pretty sure he had never heard Zabuza whistle, but the tune reminded him of Zabuza, maybe one of Zabuza's friends had whistled the tune. Shinichi's mind supplied the image off a tall teenage boy, taller even than Zabuza, with blue skin and a deep laugh.

The tune reminded him of being happy, and he was happy now, so he whistled louder. It seemed to fit, that a tune that was drenched in memories of Zabuza should be whistled now that he had the perfect way to avenge Zabuza's death. He was wrapped up in a blanket of satisfaction; he hadn't felt so content in a long time.

A shinobi darted across the street in front of Shinichi, a tall man with brown spiky hair and a thick scar that stretched the skin across his nose and his cheek. Shinichi watched him dash towards the bar that opened out onto the street, but he carried on whistling and walking, preparing for a good night's sleep.

"Anko!" the scarred shinobi yelled as he walked into the bar that was open to the chill of the night, "Anko, are you drunk?"

Shinichi sighed heavily and carried on whistling, not really listening to the words that were carried to him through the air, but hearing them nonetheless.

"Huh? No, not yet," a woman's voice chuckled, "give me a chance, I just got here!"

"How many have you had?" the shinobi asked.

"This is my first one," she replied, "want to join me Raido? It's no fun getting sloshed by yourself."

"Shikamaru and I are going to Otafuku Gai to give Kakashi's team backup," the man said hastily, "you're coming too, let's go."

"What?" she screeched, "why the hell does the shit always hit the fan on my night off? Huh?"

Shinichi paused in his progress down the street and turned his head to glance over his shoulder. He caught a glimpse of the scarred shinobi and a purple haired kunoichi taking off over the rooftops, and felt his chest lurch with worry. It would seem that Kakashi had gotten himself into a bit of trouble, and if he managed to get himself killed then Shinichi's plan would kiss the dust.

His sense of satisfaction evaporated as he continued back towards the teahouse. He contemplated following the shinobi he had seen leaving to back up Kakashi, to see if he could keep the Copy-nin alive long enough for Shinichi to have his revenge, but if he was seen then it would all be over. The only thing he could do was return to his room and wait.

oO0Oo

Kakashi slammed the head of the nearest shinobi into the wall before he leapt back to deflect the kunai heading for Genma. The street was too narrow for any advanced jutsu, he couldn't risk injuring Genma further.

He slammed his foot into the face of the shinobi that rushed him, but when the man dropped to the ground Kakashi looked up to the shinobi who had been standing behind him. His hands were clasped in a seal, and his eyes were sparkling with mischief.

There was a soft rumbling sound, faint vibrations that shivered beneath Kakashi's feet. He watched with no little surprise when the small stones and lumps of earth rolled across the ground, gathering together in piles around the shinobi who had formed the seal.

Two of the shinobi pounced towards him, and while Kakashi parried away their attacks he saw the piles of stones out of the corner of his eye, the small jagged rocks were rolling over one another, clambering atop each other to form large shapes that barely resembled people.

As he swept his feet to catch the legs of one of his attackers he heard Genma yell behind him.

"Watch out!"

The two shinobi leapt away, and the piles of stones that had turned into hulking figures suddenly dashed towards them, crunching and creaking with the movement.

"Ah, shit," Kakashi whipped around, grabbed Genma by the cloth of his vest, and launched them both through the doorway and into the brothel, slamming the door behind him as he went.

There were pitched squeals from the other side of the bar, then hammering footsteps that rushed up the staircase, leaving Kakashi and Genma alone in the room. The door was smashed open by one of the stone creatures, and Kakashi practically tossed Genma into the corner and turned to face the hulking monstrosity that came through the doorway, breaking the doorframe on the way in.

"Genma," Kakashi called, "are you alright?"

"Quit worrying about me!" Genma choked, "worry about yourself!"

The stone creation slammed two thick arms into the floor, the floorboards cracked under the force and splintered towards Kakashi who leapt backwards and landed atop the bar.

Another of the shinobi's creations slammed through the doorway.

"Any bright ideas?" Kakashi asked Genma.

"Lightning, idiot!" Genma hissed, obviously in pain, "lightning is stronger than earth!"

"Somehow I don't think that will…"

"Just do it!"

Kakashi sighed and lowered himself into a fighting stance. He accumulated chakra into his hand, sending it surging down through his arm to crackle in his palm. The first stone creation lunged forwards, bashing through the tables and the benches towards Kakashi who was perched atop the bar.

The room glowed blue as the screeching of the jutsu pierced the air. The creature made of thousands of tiny stones edged towards the sound, a thousand birds singing in Kakashi's hand.

"Get on with it!" Genma yelled.

Kakashi cast him an irritated frown and leapt off the bar, slamming his hand into the creature, thrusting straight through its chest and sending the stones scattering in all directions.

The stones skittered across the floorboards; the creature had been blasted apart, but as the second one stepped further into the building, the stones across the ground shifted. Kakashi stepped back to watch them roll back across the floor, gathering together again and scrabbling over one another to take up the form of a colossal person once again.

Kakashi turned to throw Genma a sardonic look.

Genma shrugged, "alright fine," he muttered sulkily.

"I told you so."

"I said FINE!"

oO0Oo

Iruka felt every nerve in his body pulse with fear when he saw those massive stone beings try to force their way into the brothel that Kakashi had been backed into. There were five of them, and four shinobi standing in the street, watching the destruction intently. He had felt something in him begin to decay at the thought of Kakashi being dead, he couldn't just stand there and watch this time.

"Sakura," he hissed as his eyes sought out the man who had created those stone beings, "I'm going to attack the one who created those… things. The other three…"

"You want me to deal with them," she said with a slightly masochistic grin.

Iruka shuddered at her expression, "I want you to distract them, don't get caught up in a fight if you can help it."

She nodded once, her expression deadly serious, and then before he could stop her she darted out into the street, sweeping up a handful of tiny stones in the process.

"Oi!" she yelled, throwing the stones at the shinobi down the street, "leave Kakashi-sensei alone!"

Iruka cursed under his breath and sank back into the shadows, trying to peer around the corner to see what was happening. He thought he saw the four men turn to frown angrily at the young kunoichi, and then glance up towards the roof of the brothel. With a slight nod, two of them raced away from the carnage and charged towards Sakura.

Sakura grinned, and then turned on her heel and ran for all she was worth.

Iruka shank back into the wall as the two men chased after her, silently praying that he hadn't just gotten Sakura killed. He wouldn't survive it if she ended up dead because of him, it would destroy him.

This was why he didn't go on many missions, he wasn't up to the task. He worried about everyone, he was reluctant to place anyone in dangerous situations, he was only good at teaching, nothing else.

But despite his misgivings he pulled out a kunai, wrapped an explosive tag around the handle and spun out onto the street. Sakura had left him with two opponents, those odds were far better than they had been before.

The second he revealed himself the two shinobi turned to face him. He didn't give them a chance to think, he raced forwards and leapt into the air, throwing the kunai down towards them as he did so.

They darted out of the way of the weapon, and as gravity took hold of him, Iruka formed the detonation seals and the ground exploded upwards in a cloud of earth.

He landed behind the shinobi he had been targeting, and he stabbed outwards with a kunai. The shinobi turned and met the blade with a kunai of his own, but Iruka was twisting around and reached out with a kunai in his other hand.

The other shinobi appeared through the smoke from the explosion, and as he began closing in on Iruka and his opponent, Iruka kicked out as he pulled a new explosive tag from his pouch. The shinobi stumbled backwards, caught by his team-mate before he could fall, and Iruka tossed the tag towards them, set to explode on impact.

The shinobi threw themselves to the side just as the explosive tag ate a crater into the earth. But when the blast settled down, the creations that the shinobi had constructed using countless small stones lost their shape and crumbled to the ground.

Iruka looked towards the two enemy shinobi lying on the ground a few feet away. The man Iruka had been aiming for was lying unconscious, burns marring one side of his body from the explosion, but the second Shinobi was climbing to his feet, fury burning on his face.

Iruka dropped into a fighting stance and waited for the shinobi to strike. His thoughts simultaneously forking to Kakashi and Sakura, and then he remembered Genma and a new jolt of fear snaked through him.

He wanted everyone back, standing beside him, where he could see that they were alright.

oO0Oo

Kakashi blinked at the loose piles of stones littering the floor, and not one to question good fortune, he waded through the broken tables towards where Genma was propped up against the wall.

"Hey," he called softly, "are you okay?"

"Do…" Genma coughed, "do I look okay? Seriously?"

"You look like shit," Kakashi grinned as he hurriedly checked the wounds caused by the daggers. There was green pus oozing out from the punctured flesh, mixed with vermillion blood and dribbling over Genma's skin. His flesh felt heated, and his eyes were unfocused.

"Do you have any idea what kind of poison it is?" Kakashi asked.

Genma jerked, Kakashi understood it to be a shake of his head.

"Alright," Kakashi settled Genma onto his side and backed away, "this time, stay put, I'll be back."

Genma didn't reply. Kakashi took off through the room and barrelled out of the doorway. He had to get Genma back to Konoha as soon as possible, and he had to find Iruka and Sakura. He skidded to a stop when he emerged out into the moonlight, his heart ceased beating when he saw Iruka standing there, amidst craters and debris, but in one piece.

"Iruka," Kakashi heard himself say softly, unable to look away. He had pushed his fear for the schoolteacher and Sakura to the back of his mind as he dealt with their enemies and with Genma, but seeing Iruka right there, right in front of him, shook him to his very core. He had been so certain that he would find them dead, that yet more people would have left him. But Iruka was alright, and Kakashi's relief almost caused him to unravel.

"Kakashi!" Iruka grinned, and visibly relaxed. Kakashi's heart started up again, drumming hard against his ribcage. Iruka was smiling like Kakashi was the most wonderful sight in the entire world, and it was almost painful to think that that smile was aimed at him. Had anyone ever been that happy to see him?

The single remaining enemy standing in the street glanced from Iruka to Kakashi and back again, finally settling on the chuunin, and lunging towards him with a kunai glinting in his hand.

Kakashi sped between them and caught the shinobi's wrist in his hand, twisting it back on itself and tossing the man backwards.

Kakashi turned back to Iruka and froze. Where was Sakura?

"Iruka," Kakashi said, "where is Sakura?"

Iruka's face fell, the smile was swept away, and Kakashi felt the urge to mourn it as it left Iruka's face.

"She…"

"Kakashi-sensei!"

Kakashi turned to the source of the voice. Sakura was racing down the street towards them, her legs a blur as she tried to stay ahead of the swirling mass of black on her heels. Kakashi took a step forwards and recognised the darkness following her as a great flock of blackbirds tearing after her. Hundreds of beady eyes trained specifically on her.

"Sakura!" Iruka dashed forwards, but Kakashi got there first, he raced past the chuunin, skidded to a halt as he reached Sakura, and as the kunoichi streaked behind him he flashed through the seals for a fire jutsu, cupped his hand over his lips and spewed out a gaping ball of flames towards the screeching birds.

The stench of burning flesh stole over the street. Charred feathers drifted to the ground when the fireball went out, and the few birds that escaped were flapping off in different directions.

"Hey!"

Kakashi felt a fist slam into his head, right where he had been hit no so long ago. His skull felt like it had just imploded.

"We thought you were dead!" Sakura screamed as she lowered her fist, "normal people don't just vanish like that!"

Kakashi chuckled despite himself, struggling not to just grab her and squeeze the life out of her in a hug. She was alive, she could hit him all she liked. But his head was being hammered with pain. He prodded the cut on his head gingerly, and was greatly amused by the look of horror on Sakura's face.

"Ka…Kakashi-sensei… I'm sorry! Are you okay?" she yelped.

Kakashi smiled down at her, but he sensed a flare of chakra further down the street, and his guts became stone when he saw the missing-nin who had perched himself on the roof earlier walking calmly towards Iruka.

Iruka was backing slowly away from him, but he would never escape. Kakashi pushed past Sakura without a word and flew towards Iruka with a burst of speed.

"I've had enough fun for tonight," he heard the missing-nin sigh. Kakashi watched the man's lips purse, his cheeks sucked in, and Kakashi's throat closed up with the knowledge of what he was about to do.

He slammed into Iruka and shoved him out of the way. The missing-nin had spat at the chuunin, a ball of poisonous saliva had been aimed towards his face, but Kakashi managed to move Iruka out of the way, catching the substance on his arm instead.

He let go of Iruka and leant into the wall. His arm felt cold, but it was a biting cold, eating into his flesh through his sleeve. He could feel the ache gnawing into his arm, and as it seeped into him it became hotter, like liquid flames burning in his blood.

It was moving down his arm, taking the tight, hot pain with it. But Iruka was alright. Iruka was fine.

"Go," Kakashi hissed to the chuunin as he gritted his teeth together, "you can't defeat him, go!"

Behind him the missing-nin was laughing. The sound buzzed in Kakashi's ears, rattling his teeth. The heat was lacing through his arm, moving through him with frightening speed.

Breathing was starting to hurt.

oO0Oo

Iruka felt something sharp and tingly breeze through him when Kakashi wrapped his arms around him, his heart bounced into his throat, and when the arms let go of him he craved them back, but he took one look at Kakashi and he felt as though he had been stabbed. Kakashi's eyes were wide and desperate, and he was holding himself as though he was in pain, but Iruka could see no wounds that would affect him like that.

"Go," Kakashi sounded like he was in agony, and it tore through Iruka like jagged glass, "you can't defeat him, go!"

Iruka shook his head, lost for words as Kakashi stumbled back, away from him. Laughter was ringing through the air, but Iruka didn't care where it was coming from. He had never seen Kakashi look like that, he looked scared, and it was grinding Iruka into nothing just to see it.

Kakashi jerked suddenly, and Iruka glanced to the jounin's arm to see three senbon digging into his flesh. Iruka turned to the doorway of the brothel, to see Genma sprawled on the step, whiter than hospital walls and gasping air into his lungs. His hand was still held out from throwing the senbon, shaking violently.

"Genma, what…" Iruka dove forwards when Kakashi collapsed to his knees, but the jounin pushed him back.

"Don't," Kakashi breathed softly, "don't touch me."

Iruka crouched down beside him, half aware of the shinobi he had fought earlier standing some feet away, of the missing-nin laughing at them, of Sakura frozen to the spot further up the street, and the sound of footsteps echoing somewhere further away.

He reached for the senbon in Kakashi's arm when Genma called out to him.

"Leave them in!" he rasped.

The laughter stopped suddenly, and Iruka looked up towards the missing-nin as he moved deliberately towards them.

"It's karma Kakashi," he smiled gruesomely, "don't take it personally."

Iruka tensed, prepared to jump up and tackle the bastard, not caring about the consequences, when the ground shook violently, and a groove was cleaved into the earth from where Sakura's fist had pounded into the ground. The earth cracked beneath the missing-nin's feet, and Sakura glowered at him, rage distorting her features.

"You bastard!" she screamed, "I'll kill you!"

The missing-nin stumbled over the crack in the ground, and Iruka caught sight of a flash of silver spear through the air. A single senbon jammed itself into the missing-nin's neck.

The missing-nin turned back towards Genma and raised an eyebrow, unperturbed by the needle stabbing his throat.

"What did you think that would do?" the missing-nin asked, "poison won't work on me."

"It isn't poison," Genma gasped for breath, "it's the antidote."

The missing-nin frowned, "what antidote?"

Genma smiled, but the smile looked like the smile of death, "the antidote to the poison your body produces."

The missing-nin's eyes grew wide, and he snatched the senbon from his neck.

"That's not possible," he growled, "there is no antidote."

Genma's smile widened, "there is now," he choked out, "You killed a woman named Shiranui Maiha nineteen years ago. Just call this karma."

The missing-nin clapped his hand to his neck, his eyes widened further, and he coughed violently. Sakura seemed to have remembered how to move, she was racing up the street towards them, her eyes trained on Kakashi who had slumped to the floor against the wall.

"Kakashi!" Iruka called, afraid to touch him as he didn't know where the poison had touched him, "Kakashi, wake up!"

The shinobi left in the street rounded upon Iruka, and the two shinobi that had chased Sakura appeared behind her in a rush of movement. The missing-nin's coughs were becoming weaker, and he sank to his knees, still pressing his palm into his neck.

Iruka glanced at Genma as the special jounin sucked in another rattling breath and then became boneless in the doorway, eyes closed. The missing-nin toppled sideways, hitting the ground while wheezing fitfully.

There were three enemy shinobi left, and they were closing in on them.

Iruka pulled a kunai from his pouch, desperation settling in his stomach like a lead weight, when the night was filled with vicious hissing.

He pressed himself back into the wall beside Kakashi when he saw them, hundreds of snakes slithering across the ground towards them, and Iruka's sense of helplessness was compounded. He hadn't been able to help at all. Genma looked like he was already dead, Kakashi was hardly breathing, and now there were countless snakes coming to finish them off.

"Who's first?" a familiar voice toned out from the shadows, "this is meant to be my night off, so _someone_ is going to pay!"

Iruka looked upwards to the confident posture of Anko standing on the rooftop. Shikamaru dropped down beside him from above, an irritated frown on his face, and Raido suddenly appeared across the street, leaning worriedly over Genma's unconscious form.

Iruka smiled at Shikamaru, swimming in disbelief but monumentally grateful for their presence, "you have no idea how good it is to see you."

Shikamaru 'hmphed' and bent over Kakashi, "you always seem to be making trouble for yourself Iruka-sensei. We need to get Kakashi-sensei and Genma-san back to Konoha."

Iruka nodded, practically bursting with relief, but the edge was taken off by the stillness of Kakashi.

"Right," Iruka said, "lets go."


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

Tsunade was looking at him with a curious expression, as though seeking an answer in his features, but Iruka had no idea what the question could be. She had looked at him in much the same way the last time he had delivered a report to her, in that very same office in the hospital after the fiasco in the forest.

If there was enough room in his mind to feel uncomfortable under her scrutiny, he would, but he couldn't feel anything outside of the mild dread that had swallowed him ever since he had watched Kakashi sag to the ground, his eyes wide with the knowledge that he was dying and that there was nothing he could do about it. Iruka suspected he would see those eyes in his dreams, one red, the other almost black, wide and desperate and achingly sad.

His dread was starting to claw at him, painful and sickening because no one would tell him Kakashi's condition. Part of him feared that Kakashi was dead and everyone was keeping it from him. Over the last few hours, after the relief of finding out that Genma would be fine, panic had started to rise through Iruka like bile. He had expected news of Kakashi to arrive hot on the heels of Genma's impending recovery, but there had been no news, and halfway into the night Sakura had rushed away to find out something for herself and Iruka hadn't seen her since.

"Thank you Iruka," Tsunade sighed behind her desk as she rose to her feet, "you did well, and Sakura did a good job healing your injuries so I see no reason for you to stay here. Go home and get some sleep."

Iruka's breath froze in his lungs at her dismissive tone. Was she just going to send him away without telling him anything about Kakashi? He couldn't leave without knowing, he certainly wouldn't be able to sleep. He needed to know that Kakashi was alright, it was a violent desperation that was eating him whole.

"Hokage-sama," he called, his voice was low and weak and pleading, "Kakashi-sensei… is he alright?"

Tsunade looked up at him in surprise, "he'll be fine Iruka-sensei," she said, "I thought you already knew that."

Iruka could only shake his head mutely. His insides had been knotted together, but with her words the knots were slowly unravelling, leaving him loose and unsteady in his relief. He would have laughed if he wasn't frozen to the spot. Kakashi would be fine, the dread that had been clawing at him disintegrated and Iruka felt as though he could float away.

Tsunade shrugged and sighed, "I assumed someone had told you," she admitted, "I hate to say it but it's a good thing that Genma stole the antidote, he got it into Kakashi's system immediately after he was poisoned, so the damage was minimal."

A weak laugh left Iruka's lips. He was so relieved that he felt light-headed.

"Could you tell me what room he's in, Hokage-sama?" Iruka asked. Now that he knew that Kakashi would be alright he felt a crushing need to see him, just to make sure, with his own two eyes, that he was still breathing.

Tsunade shook her head as she moved towards the filing cabinet at the side of the room, "he's unconscious at the moment so there's no point in going to see him. He should wake up sometime in the morning, come back then Iruka."

Iruka took a hesitant step forward, unable to communicate his heated desire to just _look_ at Kakashi, unconscious or not, he just wanted to be near him. He didn't know how to put this feeling into words, but he hoped Tsunade would be able to tell anyway. He needed to see Kakashi, to fill up the hole that had appeared inside him with the fear that the jounin was dead.

"I'd still like to see him Hokage-sama," he said, "just for five minutes."

She peered back at him, with a suspicious glint in her eyes, but her lips quirked up into a smirk after a moment and she planted her hands on her hips as she turned to look at him.

"Iruka-sensei," she said chidingly, "I'm not going to let you peek under his mask just because he's unconscious and unable to defend himself."

Iruka's shock at her words left him momentarily paralysed. The thought had never crossed his mind, and the idea of taking advantage of Kakashi in such a way was sickening. He knew he was glaring at the Hokage, but he couldn't wipe the expression from his face.

"I would never do that!" he yelled, "that's not why I want to see him! I don't care what he has under that mask! I was worried about him!"

Tsunade's eyebrows had arched upwards with Iruka's outburst, and once silence descended upon them again she blinked rapidly at him, surprise and amusement warring on her face.

Iruka felt his face heat up as he suddenly realised that he had been yelling at his Hokage. He had been so outraged at her insinuation that he had forgotten himself for a second, and just as he was about to lower himself into a bow and apologise, she smiled at him and shook her head.

"I'm sorry Iruka-sensei," she said, smiling fondly at him, "it was wrong of me to suggest that you would do such a thing. I didn't realise that you cared about Kakashi quite so much."

Iruka opened his mouth to speak, to affirm what she had said, to tell her that _of course he cared about Kakashi_. But the words became stuck in his throat as he heard the admission echo in his head. He _did_ care about Kakashi, up until that moment he hadn't realised just how much. Despite the fact that he hardly knew the man, Kakashi had somehow become important to him.

"He's in room 404," Tsunade informed him with that soft smile, "I still think you should go home and get some sleep, you have a class to teach in the morning, so don't stay too long."

Iruka nodded, "thank you Hokage-sama."

He had to force himself not to run as he made his way through the hospital corridors. He had to make a conscious effort to calm down and just breathe. Kakashi was going to be fine, but there was still a whisper of anxiety left hovering over Iruka that would only be banished once he had seen Kakashi for himself.

But when he was finally standing outside room 404, with his hand on the door handle, poised to go in, he found that he couldn't move. Kakashi was on the other side of the door but Iruka's feet had turned to lead. He was afraid to go in. Afraid that Kakashi would look like Gai had: weak and still and hurt. He didn't think he could bear to see Kakashi like that, and he suddenly understood exactly why Kakashi had been unable to stay in Gai's hospital room the other day.

"Excuse me." Iruka was jolted out of his thoughts by the voice behind him. The nurse was about half his size, looking up at him with a patient smile, "Are you going in?" she asked, "I just need to check on Kakashi-san."

Iruka couldn't reply, instead he stepped away from the door and watched her step into the room before flicking the light on. The room was suddenly washed in bright light, and Iruka had a clear view of the figure lying in the bed.

His breath caught in his chest when he was presented with the sight of Kakashi so abruptly. Despite the fact that there was blood clinging to the silver strands of Kakashi's hair, and bandages wrapped around his left arm, Iruka could have sworn that Kakashi was simply sleeping. He looked so peaceful and unguarded that Iruka found that he couldn't breathe, as though to take a breath would be to shatter the illusion.

He was so focused on Kakashi's face, hidden behind a blue surgical mask, and the slow rise and fall of his chest that he didn't notice the nurse at all. He jumped slightly when she spoke next, he hadn't seen her walk back across the room to stand in front of him.

"Are you going in or shall I turn the light out?" she asked with a smile.

Iruka remembered to breathe then. He licked his lips nervously and smiled back down at her, "no, um… I'm going in."

She nodded and stepped around him, leaving him hovering in the doorway as her footsteps faded down the corridor. Iruka didn't look back up towards Kakashi as she left, he feared that he would be struck senseless again if he dared. Instead he closed the door behind him and wandered closer to the bed, eyes firmly on the ground until they met the edge of a pale blue blanket and then the creamy white skin of Kakashi's arm.

It was too quiet. He didn't like this, Kakashi so still and silent while Iruka could only stand there and look at him. It made Kakashi seem vulnerable and it made Iruka feel helpless. Kakashi was lying there because he had saved Iruka's life. Again. And the guilt that suddenly surged through his veins made Iruka shudder and take a tentative glance at Kakashi's covered face.

He looked so peaceful that a sigh was pulled out of Iruka. He knew who Kakashi was, what he was capable of, but despite the blood in his hair and the infamy attached to his name, he looked so achingly innocent laying there that Iruka couldn't look away.

"You know," Iruka whispered into the silence as his fingertips ghosted softly over the firmness of Kakashi's arm, "I think I've become attached to you."

When Kakashi didn't reply, Iruka sank silently into the chair beside the bed, and allowed himself a delirious smile. He just wanted to watch Kakashi for a while, just indulge in the way his chest rose and fell slowly and surely. He just wanted to be close to Kakashi for a little bit longer, because for some reason, simply sitting beside Kakashi as he slept made Iruka feel more content that he ever had before.

oO0Oo

Waking up was almost like a reflex for Kakashi. He would go from a deep sleep to full alertness in the blink of an eye, without any visible indication that he had woken up. He envied people who could wake up gradually, who could lie beneath the covers and doze lightly before they were fully awake. It was something that most people took for granted, but Kakashi had been unable to wake up like that for years. Too many nights spent on a battlefield or in enemy territory.

So when Kakashi managed to identify the scent he had been lazily aware of in his sleep befuddled mind, he realised that he was in hospital, simply because he had been dozing lightly for a while. He had been allowed to wake up slowly, and the only explaination for it was that he had managed to injure himself in some way.

Still, being in hospital didn't account for the hint of jasmine that had been teasing his lightly sleeping mind for god only knew how long.

When he finally cracked his eye open he was staring at the ceiling. Morning sunlight was streaming in through the window, dancing patterns on the ceiling through the leaves of the trees outside.

He frowned at the ceiling for a moment as he attempted to recall why he was in hospital, when a soft, sleepy murmur startled him fully awake. He turned his head to the side and didn't quite manage to catch the gasp before it left his lips.

Iruka was curled up in the chair beside his bed, fast asleep. Kakashi had a little difficulty translating the image at first. It seemed so out of place in what had become his life that he almost expected the vision to fade if he looked for too long. Iruka was folded up in a way that couldn't be comfortable; his eyes were closed, his eyelashes brushing against his cheekbones. A few strands of brown hair had come loose of the hair tie and were framing the chuunin's face. He looked almost angelic, and Kakashi's insides melted at the sight.

Longing had begun to curl in Kakashi's abdomen, warm and lazy, in a way that made Kakashi feel impossibly content. He was captured by the desire to reach out and touch Iruka, just to be sure that he was real and not some sort of fantasy that his sleeping mind had conjured up.

Kakashi propped himself up into a sitting position, never once taking his eyes off the sleeping chuunin, thoroughly enchanted by the way the sunlight shimmered over his features and seemed to make his skin glow.

But with his movement Kakashi's left arm began to throb painfully. He managed to tear his eyes away from Iruka to frown down at the bandages strapped around his arm, from his hand to his shoulder. The flesh beneath the white strips was burning uncomfortably, and it took a moment for the jounin to remember what had happened to land him in hospital, and Iruka at his bedside.

His stomach dropped nauseatingly. The ghost of what he had felt when he thought Iruka was dead ran up his spine, dragging a shudder out of him. He had been so sure that Iruka was dead when they had all been separated, and the helplessness that had swept him away had been unbearable. He had been so hopelessly afraid, he never wanted to feel that way again.

But Iruka wasn't dead. He was sitting right beside him, murmuring softly as he slept. Kakashi cast his gaze back at the chuunin, mapping Iruka's open expression hungrily. He was so pathetically grateful that Iruka was alright. The sheer intensity of his relief was unexpected.

As slowly as he dared, Kakashi reached out with his good arm, stretched his fingertips towards Iruka's face and brushed the loose strands of hair away. The sight of Iruka was making him ache. Had the chuunin folded himself up into that horribly uncomfortable looking chair, sat by Kakashi all night, because he was worried about him?

Kakashi felt guiltily pleased at the mere idea. Iruka worrying about him, he liked that idea. But then again, Iruka worried about everyone. Kakashi's face fell when he remembered all of the smiling faces Iruka's presence conjured. All of the people who knew him and waved at him in the street, everyone who had a little piece of Iruka's heart.

He had been jealous of Iruka before. But now he was jealous of them. It had been wonderful to think that Iruka cared enough to worry, to sit by his bed all night. But Kakashi really was no different from anyone else. Iruka would have done the same for anyone, and the realisation was a heavy weight inside him.

He shook himself suddenly, passing his good hand through his tangled hair. He should be content with the knowledge that Iruka cared at all, even a little. It made no difference who he had to share that with. He should be glad that he was one of Iruka's many friends, but he still couldn't shake the tendril of longing that was still winding through him, hissing in jealousy at those _many_ that he had to share Iruka with.

Kakashi's eyes widened in sudden realisation. He thought of Iruka as his friend. He didn't want another friend. He had only just come to realise that Gai was more than just an annoyance to him; he didn't want any more people in his life who could leave him. He had made a promise to himself, he had decided not to get attached to anyone any more. Yet somehow Iruka had managed to sneak under his skin. If he wasn't careful then Iruka could turn him inside out.

Kakashi took a steadying breath as he pushed the covers off him. He suddenly felt stifled. He had started to care about Iruka without realising it, and the thought suddenly scared him. He tried to imagine how it would feel to lose Iruka, and just contemplating it made his stomach tie itself up in knots.

Iruka made a soft sound and burrowed deeper into the chair. Kakashi felt himself bubble with panic, he was overwhelmed with a protective desire to wrap his arms around the chuunin and mould himself to Iruka's skin, never to let go. Iruka was kind and bright and everything that Kakashi wished he could be, and the feelings that were suddenly evoked in the jounin were something that he didn't feel the ability to deal with.

He didn't want to lose anyone else. He couldn't.

Kakashi twisted himself off the bed and swayed slightly on unsteady legs beside the chair. He didn't want to look down at the chuunin, but his eyes wouldn't listen to reason. Iruka looked so adorable curled up like that, so utterly charming that it almost hurt to look at.

He knew he was being a coward. But for now, he just needed to think, without adorable chuunins or jasmine clouding his head. But even as he turned towards the door he could hear a faint echo of Obito's voice in his head.

_Be happy before you drop dead._

He clicked the door shut softly behind him and allowed himself to breathe.

"Kakashi-sensei!"

Kakashi turned to blink in Lee's direction, momentarily blinded by the grin the teenager was giving him.

"You're awake!" he whooped, "Gai-sensei has been so worried, he will be thrilled to…"

"What?" Kakashi barked, "Gai's awake?"

Lee looked startled for a moment before his grin broke out again, "yes Kakashi-sensei! He woke up last night, he…"

Kakashi was past the boy before he could utter another word. Hope and disbelief were grinding together in his stomach as he dashed towards Gai's room, only meters away down the corridor. If Gai was awake than why had no one told Kakashi? Never mind the fact that Kakashi had been unconscious, Gai should have dragged himself into his room to wake him up personally. Gai could wake the dead with that voice of his, he should have no trouble waking a sleeping Copy-nin.

Kakashi lunged into Gai's room, throwing all sense of decorum out of the window in his haste, and skidded to a halt at the end of Gai's bed.

Gai was propped up on a mountain of pillows, surrounded by flowers, covered almost from head to toe in bandages and looking just a little worse for wear, but his eyes were open and he was blinking across the room towards Kakashi with a shocked expression.

For the length of about five seconds Kakashi merely looked at the idiot. He had never felt so fond of anyone or anything in his entire life, he didn't know whether to hug the bastard or knock his nose through the back of his skull.

"Kakashi!" Gai yelled suddenly, "you're awake!"

Kakashi swallowed and felt himself smile behind his mask despite himself.

"So are you."

Gai's face cracked into the widest grin Kakashi had ever seen him manage, and in his own unique way he managed to put some order back into Kakashi's life: he gave one of his good guy poses. Sprawled in a hospital bed, lying on a mound of pillows, covered in gauze, but it was a good guy pose all the same.

oO0Oo

Hanabi had a plan.

Two very important factors in this plan were Sarutobi Konohamaru and Iruka-sensei.

Iruka-sensei was conspicuously absent.

"I bet he's on a mission!" Konohamaru yelled suddenly amid the roar of unsupervised students, "a top secret one! Hey, do you think he's secretly an ANBU? I bet the whole teacher thing is a cover for his real job, maybe he's a hunter-nin!"

"Don't be an idiot," Hanabi scowled from her perch on Iruka-sensei's desk, she had been rifling through the papers and the drawers of the desk in the hope of finding _something_ that would be of use to 'The Plan'. So far she had found a stack of old essay questions, some drawing pins, a pair of scissors, a rotting banana that had fallen down the back of the drawers, a kunai, a pair of prayer beads that seemed to turn into a garrotte when pulled in a specific manner, some papers covered in some kind of short hand, and a hair tie.

"Fine!" Konohamaru hissed as he rounded on Hanabi, "if you're so smart, you tell us where he is!"

Hanabi smiled angelically at him, and the entire class took a tentative step away from her in caution.

"I think," she began, "that he's with his boyfriend."

The entire class fell deadly silent. Konohamaru's face did many amusing things, for a moment Hanabi thought he might be having a stroke. But finally his expression settled on outraged and right on cue, he exploded.

"IRUKA-SENSEI DOESN'T HAVE A BOYFRIEND YOU PERVERT!"

Hanabi smiled and scrutinised her finger nails. Phase one of 'The Plan' complete.

oO0Oo

Gai was gesticulating wildly, laughing and yelling and making a thorough nuisance of himself, but Kakashi leant back against the wall and watched it all. Lee was flitting around, pandering to his sensei's every whim while Gai hollered on and on about the valour of youth. For the first time in what could have been forever, Kakashi found himself enjoying Gai's flowery soliloquies.

"I believe," Gai announced as Lee scurried away to fill up the jug of water, "that Raido-san had a date with Genma-san."

Kakashi almost slid sideways down the wall.

"Come again?" he asked.

Gai grinned mischievously, "when Genma-san failed to arrive, Raido-san went in search of him, only to discover that…"

"I should put you and Jiraiya in a room together," Kakashi shook his head in wry amusement, "you could collaborate on a best seller."

"As I was saying!" Gai frowned slightly at the interruption, "he heard from Shizune that you had taken a team to Otafuku Gai to rescue Genma-san from certain death."

"You make it sound so dramatic."

"And in fear for his lover's safety…"

"Where do you get this stuff?"

"He flew through the forest to find his lost love!"

"Pass me a bucket."

Gai sank back onto the pillows behind him with a deep sigh, smiling at Kakashi.

"I'm glad you're alright Kakashi."

Something in Kakashi's chest pulled tightly with Gai's confession. He wanted to return the sentiment, but he wasn't quite sure how. He had never acknowledged Gai as one of his friends before, Gai was simply a nuisance that showed up from time to time, and so he had never had to admit that Gai meant something to him.

He wanted to admit it now, he wanted Gai to know. But he couldn't quite find the words.

Gai didn't seem to expect a response however, he had turned towards the window with a slight frown.

"Kakashi…"

"Hmm?" Kakashi followed his line of sight, his eyes fell upon the tree that reached up towards the sky just outside the window.

"What?" Kakashi asked as he looked back at Gai.

Gai was still staring at the uppermost branch of the tree, a focused concentration set deep into his face.

"I thought I sensed someone out there last night," he said, "a shinobi, but I can't be sure."

Kakashi cocked his head to the side in confusion, "we live in a hidden village Gai, we have shinobi like other villages have cockroaches."

Gai turned his frown towards Kakashi, "I was certain that I sensed killing intent radiating off him, whoever he was."

Kakashi straightened up from the wall then. The idea that there had been a shinobi waiting just outside Gai's hospital room, glowing with killing intent in the middle of the night, sent a shock of nervous anger through him.

"I don't know," Gai admitted sheepishly, "I had just awoken, I could have been mistaken."

Kakashi strode towards the window and peered out onto the nearest branch. Nothing seemed to be out of place as far as he could see, there was nothing to suggest that anything amiss had occurred. He let his eyes run down the length of the trunk until he was gazing pointedly at the ground where the roots twisted downwards, and all of the air in his lungs left him in one single whoosh.

Without another word he slid the window open and leapt to the ground below.

oO0Oo

_There was a single hand reaching out of the darkness. Pale and bound in silver threads. Iruka knew that he had to take that hand, that if he failed to reach it then the hand would vanish into the darkness and be lost forever. He reached out, stretching as far as the reach of his arm would allow, and for one brilliant moment he felt his fingertips brush against warm skin._

_Then the hand was gone, slipping away into the shadows and no matter how far Iruka reached, he couldn't touch those fingertips again._

Iruka jerked awake. His pulse was beating a staccato as he gasped for breath. He could barely even remember what he had been dreaming about, but he could still feel the numbing sensation of loss that had tried to crush him.

He squeezed his eyes shut and sat up. His neck was aching and his legs had gone numb beneath him. He was cramped into a chair and for a moment the sense of loss was coupled with a thread of disorientation.

He opened his eyes and glanced around, he found an empty bed and a crumpled sheet, and that loss hit him again with a more pronounced effect. He leapt up from the seat, still staring at where Kakashi had been lying and felt a wave of dizziness rain down on him. He had stood up too quickly, and his legs felt vaguely unsteady from being angled awkwardly beneath him for so long. He braced himself on the bed before he could fall to his ass, his hands slapped down onto the mattress as his light-headedness shrank away.

The mattress was still slightly warm beneath his palms. A faint memory of the body that had been laying there. The feeling cleared Iruka's head somewhat. He hadn't lost Kakashi, the jounin couldn't have been gone long for the mattress to still hold an echo of his body heat. He must have simply woken up and left.

That in itself was slightly painful to comprehend. Kakashi had just left him there, without a word, as though Iruka didn't matter.

But he was ok, wasn't he? So long as he was alright, it really _didn't_ matter.

Iruka managed to steady his breathing. He rolled his neck, wincing at the cracks that pierced the silence. His entire being felt stiff and sore, and he felt oddly empty. He hadn't meant to fall asleep, but he certainly hadn't expected to open his eyes to an empty bed.

But there was no reason to hover alone in an empty room. He shuffled around the chair, his legs still slightly unsteady, and wobbled his way towards the door.

A green blur very nearly knocked him into next Wednesday as he stepped into the corridor.

"Oh! Iruka-sensei! I apologise!" Lee cried, balancing a jug full of water in one hand as he reached out to steady Iruka with the other, "I should have been paying more attention to where I was going! Please forgive me!"

"Mm," Iruka murmured sleepily before he cleared his throat and smiled down at the teenager, "it's fine Lee, I wasn't exactly paying attention myself."

"Are you here to visit Gai-sensei?" Lee asked suddenly, eyes sparkling with joy, "he's awake now Iruka-sensei, I'm sure he'd like to speak to you! Kakashi-sensei is with him now but they're…"

"Kakashi?" Iruka yelped. Then without another word he spun around and hurried in the direction of Gai's room.

Gai grinned up at him as he practically fell through the doorway. The jounin looked odd without his green spandex, but the smile was a welcome sight. Iruka grinned back.

"Good morning Iruka-sensei," Gai greeted.

"How are you feeling Gai-sensei?" Iruka asked as he took in the reddened, swollen flesh that wasn't hidden beneath pristine bandages.

"How could I feel anything but invigorated on such a vibrant morning?" Gai asked happily, "and you Iruka-sensei? Tell me how you are!"

Iruka smiled hesitantly as he glanced around the room, "um… I'm fine, I was just looking for Kakashi-sensei, Lee said he was in here."

Gai nodded regally, "yes Iruka-sensei," he confirmed, "he went out the window."

Iruka goggled at Gai, then shot his gaze towards the open window before frowning back down at the man in the bed.

"He WHAT?"

Iruka launched himself towards the window and flung himself half out of it, expecting to see nothing more than a trail of flames left in Kakashi's wake as he fled. But when his eyes fell on the graceful line of Kakashi's naked back, his mind stilled.

Kakashi was standing in the shade of the oak tree in the hospital courtyard. He had his back to Iruka, but the chuunin relished the opportunity to simply watch Kakashi. The jounin was simply indescribable. Even dressed only in a pair of faded pyjama bottoms, standing in the grass in his bare feet, he still looked almost regal. He had a presence that was impossible to ignore, his entire frame commanded the eyes to look at him.

Iruka cast his eyes over the definition of Kakashi's back, across the broad expanse of his shoulders and down to where his spine dipped beneath the waistband of his pants. Iruka heard a soft sigh, and he wondered briefly if the sound had come from him, before Kakashi turned slightly and Iruka caught a glimpse of muddy red staining Kakashi's silver hair.

The sight of the dried blood jolted Iruka back to reality. Kakashi had been seriously injured, he should be in bed, not prancing around half naked in the grass.

As an irritated scowl settled onto his face, he dropped from the window onto the grass below and marched towards the jounin.

"Kakashi-sensei!" he yelled, "what are you doing out here?"

Kakashi whirled around to face him, two mismatched eyes focused solely on him, and Iruka stopped in his tracks, held immobile by the sight of a half naked Kakashi watching him so intently.

The low rumbling sound of growling startled Iruka, he glanced down to Kakashi's ankles, at the pug that was scuttling around the trees roots.

"He was here Kakashi," the dog growled.

Kakashi was scowling as he lowered himself into a crouch. He was running his pale fingers over the blades of grass, over the shredded leaves that were littered over the roots.

Kakashi looked back up at Iruka then, he looked slightly nervous and the expression made Iruka want to wrap his arms around the jounin.

"Iruka-sensei," Kakashi said softly, "um… aren't you late?"

Iruka frowned, and then realisation smacked into him.

"Shit!" he hissed, "I… "

Kakashi straightened up in one single fluid movement that no human should be able to accomplish. Iruka felt his mouth go dry.

"Go to the Academy Iruka-sensei," Kakashi urged, "I was just about to go back inside."

"Kakashi…" the pug began to say something but the jounin silenced the summon with a wave of his hand.

"But…" Iruka swallowed, torn between his duty and his desire to stay with Kakashi.

"You worry too much Iruka-sensei," Kakashi smiled at him.

Iruka sighed and pointed towards the hospital with a stern expression, "just go back inside and don't leave before a medic says you can."

Kakashi blinked at him and then chuckled softly.

"Whatever you say sensei."

Iruka felt Kakashi's voice shimmer through him, the way he had uttered the word 'sensei' brought a flame to his cheeks. He cleared his throat loudly and nodded before turning away.

At the last second he spun back around, causing Kakashi's eyes to widen in surprise.

"I'll come back later," Iruka promised, "after class, alright?"

Kakashi merely looked at him, shock still evident on his features, before he nodded slowly at Iruka.

Iruka smiled and stepped back, thoughts of a half naked Kakashi suddenly taking a back seat to what Konohamaru might have done to his classroom in his absence.

oO0Oo

"Kakashi!" the jounin felt Pakkun butt his ankle for attention, but Kakashi couldn't take his eyes away from Iruka's retreating back. He said he would come back, and for some reason those simple words had managed to soothe some of the nerves being wringed within him whenever he thought about how attached he was becoming to the chuunin.

"HEY!" the pug nipped violently at Kakashi's foot, causing the jounin to hop to the side and glare down at the summon.

"What was that for?" Kakashi growled.

"The bastard that tried to kill Bull was here Kakashi!" Pakkun barked, "and you're standing around like some lovesick puppy!"

Kakashi's eyes widened in surprise, "what?"

Pakkun scowled at him, "I'm a dog," he said flatly, "in case you failed to notice. I can smell your interest."

Kakashi staggered back and watched Pakkun, aghast.

"Pakkun, that is mildly disturbing," Kakashi cried, "I don't… He's my friend," Kakashi swallowed, surprised at how easily those words had rolled off his tongue, "I'm not interested in him like that!"

"You keep telling yourself that," Pakkun snorted, "now if you don't mind, we have more important things to be concentrating on!"

Kakashi shook himself and peered back at the tattered leaves scattered around the roots of the oak.

"Right," he agreed, "find Tsunade and tell her I need to speak to her."

The pug nodded the affirmative and charged away in a blur of tiny legs.

Kakashi kept his eyes on the summon until Pakkun was completely out of sight, and once he was finally alone in the hospital courtyard he let himself sink to the grass in the shade of the oak tree, suddenly drained of energy.

A light breeze was playing over his bare skin, teasing goose-bumps out of his flesh. He glanced up at the window of Gai's hospital room with a worried expression.

He had only just got the idiot back, and now there was a missing-nin sniffing around him. The pieces didn't want to be pieced together; Kakashi was certain that the shinobi Hanabi had seen when the Sound-nin had made their kidnapping attempt was the same shinobi who had tried to drown one of his summons. That shinobi could only be the person that the Hunter-nin from Mist that Kakashi had seen was looking for, but what had he been doing outside Gai's hospital room? What did he want?

A missing-nin would not walk into a hidden village unless he had an explicit reason, and none of the reasons Kakashi could come up with boded well.

With a frustrated groan Kakashi leant back onto the tree to stare at the sky through the leaves above him. Pakkun's strange comment came back to him, drawing his brows into a frown.

'Smell his interest' indeed. The pug was going senile in his old age. He liked Iruka, that was the reason for his anxiety, he didn't want to invite anyone into his life and leave himself open to any more heartache, but he liked Iruka as a _friend_. He enjoyed spending time with the chuunin. He enjoyed the way Iruka made him feel like a real person, not just a tool for Konoha. He liked the way Iruka smiled, or blushed; the way the sunlight played over his skin and the way his hair fell into his eyes when it came loose from his hair tie. He liked the way Iruka said his name and the scent of jasmine that clung to him.

Kakashi pressed a hand over his mouth as his mind started reeling. The world had started to swim before his eyes. Every time he recalled one of Iruka's smiles, a smile that had been just for Kakashi, the jounin felt his insides squirm in pleasure.

Iruka really _was_ beautiful. He had eyes like melted chocolate that sparkled when he laughed, and skin the colour of creamy coffee, and a voice that sounded like warm balm for weary limbs. Kakashi _was_ interested. But that just made it even worse.

He was only going to end up getting hurt. Maybe he could have been friends with Iruka, but wanting more when he knew it was hopeless would only leave him heartbroken.

His heart wouldn't take any more cracks, any more and it would shatter into so many pieces there would be nothing left but dust.

oO0Oo

Iruka paused outside the door to his classroom and listened to the chaos. He wasn't terminally late, and Suzume had informed him that she had been keeping an eye on his class between teaching her own students, but the hubbub coming from the other side of the door did not bode well.

With a resigned sigh, he pushed the door open.

As soon as he strode in, trying to exude authority amidst the anarchy, every single student froze and turned to look at him, utterly silent. No one moved as Iruka marched towards his desk, and it made the chuunin slightly nervous. He half expected something to explode with the way they were standing there, nervous and wary.

The desks had been pushed back against the walls, and it looked as though a hurricane had swept briefly through the centre of the room, but nothing looked broken. There were crude drawings on the board, the handiwork of Konohamaru no doubt, and what looked like a squashed banana stuck to the window.

"I'm glad you decided to be productive in my absence," Iruka remarked dryly, "I want this room spotless in five minutes."

As he pulled the chair behind his desk out so that he could sink down into it, every student in the room began to buzz around, hurriedly putting the desks back in their proper places. But Konohamaru was still frozen in place, looking at Iruka with mild suspicion.

"What are you waiting for Konohamaru?" Iruka frowned as he sat down.

"Iruka-sensei?" Konohamaru narrowed his eyes, "do you have a boyfriend?"

Everything in the room stopped. The silence was so taut that it could snap at any moment, every pair of eyes was drilling anxiously into Iruka's face.

"Excuse me?" Iruka asked, his heart gave one massive thud before withering in shock.

"Hanabi said that you have a boyfriend," Konohamaru explained, "do you?"

Iruka looked at the Hyuuga girl, who was blinking over at him with a perfectly blank expression. Tumbleweed was rolling through Iruka's mind.

"I… no, I don't," he replied, confused.

Konohamaru grinned in triumph and turned to point an accusatory finger at Hanabi.

"SEE!" he bellowed, "I told you Iruka-sensei wasn't gay! That's just disgusting!"

Iruka felt the world drop out from underneath him. Konohamaru was grinning in satisfaction, the rest of the students were murmuring amongst themselves, and Iruka's outrage at Konohamaru's outburst was threatening to set him aflame.

"What exactly do you mean by that, Konohamaru?" Iruka asked sternly. His hands had tightened over the edge of his desk.

The smile fell swiftly away from the boy's face when he turned towards his teacher, "huh? Um… nothing Iruka-sensei."

Iruka's frown turned into an angry glare. He could sense the class recoil slightly. He said he was single, he never said he was straight. Iruka much preferred women to men, but that didn't mean he had never been attracted to another man.

"You think it's disgusting for one man to love another?" he asked as he rose from his seat to scowl down at his student. He felt disappointed and angry at the boy, but he had to remind himself that Konohamaru was just a _boy_, Iruka couldn't just condemn him for his opinion, no matter how Iruka felt about it.

"Um… no?" Konohamaru winced, "I… I don't know."

Iruka took a deep breath and tried to school his features into something less severe.

"You can't help who you fall in love with Konohamaru," Iruka said, "love is never disgusting, no matter who you feel it for."

"Well, yeah, I know," Konohamaru floundered "but… You wouldn't… I mean, you wouldn't _kiss_ another guy, would you Iruka-sensei?"

Iruka's eyes narrowed, but he couldn't actually believe he was having this conversation with his students. What was he supposed to say? That he had had a couple of boyfriends in the past and there had been much more than kissing involved? That didn't bear thinking about, he'd be chased through the streets by parents wielding pitchforks. But he didn't want any of his students leaving his class thinking that homosexuality was wrong.

"Well," he started nervously, "If I was… attracted to another man, and he liked me back, then… yes, I would."

Konohamaru's eyes had gone impossibly wide, his jaw was hanging open, and Hanabi was looking from him to Iruka and back again, as though waiting for more.

"Now then," Iruka cleared his throat and sat back in his chair, "this room still needs to be tidied…"

"Iruka-sensei," Hanabi spoke out suddenly, stepping closer with a strained sort of determination, "_have_ you ever been attracted to another man?"

Iruka felt his stomach lurch. There was no way he was answering that question. He was not talking about his sexual preferences with his class, he could already feel his face reddening at the prospect.

The students were looking at him curiously, waiting for an answer, and as Iruka took a breath to skirt the question there was a sudden image of Kakashi wavering in his mind. He could clearly see Kakashi standing there, wearing one of Iruka's spare uniforms, hovering in his kitchen and smiling with both eyes.

"…yes," Iruka heard himself say before he could stop himself. But he wasn't talking to his students, he was hardly even aware that they were there, he was thinking about the way Kakashi had brushed chalk dust from his cheek, and how Iruka had longed for him to do it again.

Hanabi was smirking for all she was worth.

oO0Oo

Shinichi pressed his hand into the bag of assorted nuts once again and leaned forwards. The movement was pointless, there was no way he could hear what they were saying from so far away. He was sitting on the roof of an old apartment building, looking across the street towards the courtyard of the hospital. When he had arrived minutes ago, with the purpose of finding out what had happened to the Copy-nin, he had found the man sitting beneath the oak tree, alone.

He looked perfectly at ease, enjoying a nice day in the shade of a tree, without care in the world. Shinichi wanted nothing more than to leap down there and rip his throat out. How dare he look so peaceful after all of the sins he had committed. Zabuza was rotting beneath the ground, Shinichi had become a missing-nin, he had nothing left, and it was all because of the man down there, lounging on the grass.

The blonde woman had arrived a few minutes after Shinichi had, with a tiny rat of a dog at her heels. Shinichi had never seen her before, but she seemed to have some kind of authority, the moment she arrived the Copy-nin had risen to his feet, wobbling slightly and using the tree trunk to steady himself. She'd been yelling at him about something, Shinichi had read the words "outside" and "no condition" on her lips as she paced towards him, but then she had turned her back on Shinichi to face the Copy-nin, and he hadn't been able to tell what she had been saying after that.

He tossed a small handful of nuts into his mouth and crunched them loudly as he watched the scene below. The blonde must have been some sort of medic, because after a while she held her hand out demandingly and the Copy-nin had slowly raised his bandaged arm and allowed her to inspect it.

At least he was in one piece. Shinichi didn't care how injured he was, so long as he was healthy enough to want to die after Shinichi was through with him. He had been thinking about his revenge all night, running through countless scenarios in his head. He had become stuck on the idea of staging a suicide, of gutting the Copy-nin's friend and leaving him for the man to find. But Shinichi had found himself standing upon a chess board, he needed to get all of the pieces into the perfect position before it would work. He needed to find a time and place to put his plan into action, he needed to find a way of ensuring that the Copy-nin was the one to find the body.

The two figures on the grass below turned and began walking back towards the hospital entrance, the dog trotting behind them. Shinichi continued glaring at the doorway long after they had vanished, despising the fact that Kakashi could look so ordinary, yet practically glow with power at the same time.

He scrunched the bag in his hand up into a ball and tossed it to the street below. He could attack Gai while he was still in the hospital, still weak from whatever injury had put him there, but how would he make it look as though Gai had killed himself? He wouldn't have access to weapons in a hospital room.

Shinichi stood up after a few more moments, chewing his lip thoughtfully. It didn't necessarily have to be a suicide. So long as it completely destroyed Sharingan Kakashi, it didn't matter. Besides, a part of Shinichi wanted Kakashi to know that it had been him, that he had killed Kakashi's best friend to avenge Zabuza's death. He wanted to stand over the Copy-nin and laugh.

Shinichi looked back down at the street below. A blur of green had caught his eye as he went to leave. The boy in the spandex, who had been with Gai when he woke up, was rushing through the main doors of the hospital, out into the sunshine and down the street.

Shinichi looked back towards the window of Gai's room. Without the spandexed boy, who was keeping Gai company?

Shinichi smirked, and dropped down into the street.

oO0Oo

"I heard you the first time brat!" Tsunade snapped as she re-bandaged Kakashi's arm, "I've already told you that I will deal with it, quit squirming!"

"Look," Kakashi winced as she yanked on his arm, "I feel fine, you should let me…"

"I said no," she reminded him, "I'll send the Inuzukas out to track him down, _you_ are going to stay here until we've run a blood test."

"Hokage-sama, there's no need to…"

"Further more!" she yelled over him, "you are forbidden from forming seals until the swelling has gone down."

Kakashi was momentarily lost for words. He goggled at her, trying to find any trace of humour in her expression, but she was deadly serious and focused on her task of trying to pull his arm out of its socket.

She couldn't forbid him from forming seals, what was he supposed to do if he was attacked?

"Enemy ninja are not going to drop from the trees to attack you," Tsunade sighed, as though reading his mind, "you've already done more damage by summoning Pakkun earlier, if you're going to be difficult I'll just tie your hands to your ankles until you're healed."

"I…" Kakashi sighed in defeat, "how long until then?"

Tsunade gave him his arm back and gave him an appraising look, "the swelling should go down in the next couple of days, I'll take another look at you then."

Kakashi nodded in resignation, "thank you Hokage-sama."

"I'll send someone to take a blood sample," she said in response, "until we get the results back you are to stay in this bed. I'll fetch the restraints if I have to."

Kakashi glanced impishly at her out of the corner of his eye, "restraints? Hokage-sama, don't you think you're a little too old for me?"

She hit him on the back of the head so hard he very nearly fell off the bed.

"Brat," she muttered as she turned towards the door, but Kakashi was sure he saw an amused quirk to her lips before she vanished into the corridor.

Kakashi turned to look at Pakkun, who had parked himself in the corner of the room while he was informing Tsunade of the missing-nin outside Gai's hospital room.

"Hey," Pakkun called, "about you and that schoolteacher, is there something going on that I should know about?"

Kakashi felt his face crumple. He had successfully managed to distract himself from the chuunin, but now all of his worries rushed back, like water through a broken dam. He looked away from the pug, in case the summon saw something in his face that he didn't want him to see. Like fear maybe. Or longing.

"You can go now Pakkun," he managed to say.

"You heard what the old lady said," Pakkun replied, "you aren't allowed to form seals. You won't be able to summon me again, so I should stay here in case…"

"I don't need you to stay," Kakashi argued, "just go. I'm tired."

Pakkun narrowed his eyes at the man, and turned around in a circle before settling comfortably on the ground in defiance.

"Fine," Kakashi muttered as he pushed himself off the bed.

"OI!" Pakkun barked, "you have to stay here, remember!"

Kakashi ignored him and shut the door once he had escaped into the corridor. He didn't want to talk about Iruka. But he didn't know what to do. If he were allowed to leave the hospital then he'd run straight to the memorial stone and pour all of his thoughts out to the ghosts. But ghosts couldn't give him any advice.

He turned his head in the direction of Gai's room. What he really wanted was for someone to tell him that he was right, that getting involved with Iruka was a very bad idea and he should put everything back to normal. He had been getting along fine before Iruka, he didn't need to do anything foolish. He needed someone to tell him how to ignore the way his insides danced whenever he thought about the chuunin. And Gai, despite annoying Kakashi to no end, somehow always managed to give Kakashi exactly what he needed. He provided a distraction when he was in need of one, reassurance when he felt unsure about something, and backup when he got in trouble. For all the years that Kakashi had been dismissing him, Gai had always been there if he needed him.

Kakashi pushed away from the wall and edged closer to Gai's room. Gai was his friend, right? And friends went to one another with their problems.

Gai looked up from the magazine he was flicking through when Kakashi paused in the doorway, and grinned.

"_There_ you are, my Eternal Rival," he beamed, "I wondered where you have fled to."

"I didn't flee," Kakashi huffed as he closed the door behind him, "I went to find out who the shinobi you saw outside your window was."

Gai tossed the magazine to the table beside the bed and frowned up at him, "what did you discover?"

Kakashi sighed, "Pakkun picked up the scent of a missing-nin that's been hanging around Konoha for a while. You haven't pissed off anyone from Hidden Mist have you?"

Gai looked thoughtful for a moment before his grin broke out again, "I can't recall."

Kakashi shook his head and dumped himself on the end of Gai's bed, staring out of the window, "the Hokage's sending the Inuzukas out to track him."

"That's good," Gai replied with a nod, watching Kakashi intently with a small, indulgent smile.

Kakashi watched the breeze breathe through the leaves of the oak tree and tried to put his thoughts into words. He didn't quite know how to bring up the subject with Gai, he couldn't just blurt it out.

"Kakashi," Gai said softly, "what's troubling you?"

Kakashi blinked in surprise and turned to look at the other man.

"How do you know something's troubling me?" he asked.

Gai's smile widened, "I know you Kakashi," he said simply.

Kakashi sagged, "I have… a problem."

Gai didn't say anything. He let Kakashi gather his thoughts without interruption, with infinite patience.

"I…" Kakashi had to look away from his concerned expression, he cast his gaze out of the window again and frowned, "I think I have… feelings for someone."

There was a space of a heartbeat that passed in silence before Gai reacted. Kakashi was still staring out of the window, still feeling raw from just admitting that out loud, when Gai lunged himself across the bed towards him and squashed the jounin into a fierce hug.

"Kakashi!" he cried, "I am so happy for you!"

"W-what?" Kakashi squawked as he tried to wriggle out of Gai's grasp.

"You of all people deserve this happiness!" Gai enthused, "you have been alone for far too long! Whoever she is I am sure that…"

"GAI!" Kakashi jumped back from the bed once he had escaped the bandaged man's arms, "I said I have feelings for someone, I never said they felt the same way back!"

Gai's overjoyed expression switched to deadly cold in the blink of an eye, "why wouldn't she feel the same way about you? What's wrong with her?"

Kakashi clapped his good hand over his eyes in exasperation, "nothing. It's just that…"

Kakashi tensed. He opened his eyes and peered over the top of his hand, scanning the room for the danger that had just sparked awareness in the back of his mind. He turned back towards the window, every hair on his body standing rigid.

Gai had fallen silent at the abrupt change in Kakashi. He walked towards the open window, frowning down to the ground and glancing over the walls of the building. He had been sure that there was someone nearby, watching them.

"What is it?" Gai asked quietly.

Kakashi shook his head, "nothing," he replied, "I'm imagining things."

He slid the window shut and turned back to his friend, "I'm going paranoid."

oO0Oo

Shinichi was gripping the bark so hard his hands would be bruised. He hadn't dared use chakra to attach himself to the side of the tree, that would give him away to someone like the Copy-nin in a second. He had fallen back upon his tree climbing skills, honed by hours of practice as a child when he needed to escape his older brother.

He had still almost been caught, but he had learnt something very valuable.

Kakashi had feelings for someone.

He let go of the bark and let himself plummet to the grass below. He needed to hide somewhere before those Inuzukas that the Copy-nin mentioned came looking for him. But nothing in the world could dampen his spirits after that revelation.

Sharingan Kakashi had feelings for someone. And Shinichi was going to find out who that someone was.

oO0Oo

"What were you saying Kakashi?" Gai prompted once Kakashi had wandered away from the window.

"Hm?" Kakashi looked back at him, still slightly shaken by the presence he thought he felt. But the missing-nin wouldn't return so soon after his last visit, not in broad daylight with the Inuzukas looking for him.

Gai was watching him with a patient expression.

"Oh," Kakashi sighed, "don't worry about it Gai. It doesn't matter."

"It most certainly _does_ matter!" Gai yelled, leaning towards him, "unrequited love is not something to trivialise!"

"Love?" Kakashi yelped, "I never said I was in love with him!"

Gai sat back suddenly, as though he had been blown over, "him?"

Kakashi's eyes widened in horror. "Uh… I have to get back to my room."

Kakashi was at the door in a flash, but before he could wrap his hand around the door handle Gai had launched his magazine at the jounin's hand, knocking it away from the door.

"I never took you for a coward Kakashi," Gai said, a note of disappointment in his voice.

Kakashi turned to glare at the man sitting in the bed.

"Did you think I would hold it against you?" Gai asked, hurt creeping into his face, "the fact that you are gay?"

"I'm not gay," Kakashi retorted, "if I was, Icha Icha wouldn't keep me so riveted."

"Then you are bisexual," Gai confirmed.

"No," Kakashi spat, "I like who I like, why do I need to be labelled?"

Gai nodded grimly, "alright. But you must know that it does not bother me who you are attracted to."

Kakashi sighed, "I know. It's just… I'm not very good with feelings, and I seem to have a lot of them for this person."

"Does he know how you feel?" Gai asked.

Kakashi shook his head, staring at the ground rather than look Gai in the face.

"You should tell him Kakashi," Gai said firmly, "he may return your feelings, you deserve to have someone love you."

Kakashi groaned and moved back towards the bed, "I'm not going to tell him," he said as he sank onto the edge of the bed, "I don't want him to return my feelings, that would make it harder."

"It would make what harder?" Gai asked in confusion.

"I don't want to have feelings for him!" Kakashi cried suddenly, "he'd never return them in a million years anyway. I'm a blood soaked murderer! I'm worn and jaded and broken and he's… I'm not that lucky!"

"Kakashi…"

"And even if he did feel the same way," Kakashi continued, "I couldn't let it happen. He'd die, or he'd leave, or he'd find someone else who actually deserves him, and…"

Gai slammed one of his hands over Kakashi's mouth to silence him. Kakashi glanced sideways at his frowning face, trying to mumble through the firm press of Gai's hand to his mask.

"You're babbling, my Eternal Rival," Gai frowned, "I've never heard you babble before."

Kakashi jerked his face away from Gai's silencing hand and glared at the corner of the room.

"Kakashi," Gai said purposefully, "I cannot think of a single person in this village that you do not deserve."

Kakashi opened his mouth to protest, but was silenced by Gai's warning glare.

"More importantly," he continued, "you know better than anyone how precious love is. If you find it then you should not let it go unacknowledged."

"No one mentioned 'love'," Kakashi said softly.

"Could you fall in love with him?" Gai questioned.

Kakashi turned to face Gai, and found that he couldn't answer. He thought of Iruka's cheerful smiles, and his peacefully sleeping face, and knew the answer. But he was too afraid to say it out loud.

"If you don't tell him how you feel because you are afraid," Gai went on, "then you are a coward."

Kakashi looked at the floor, "maybe I am one."

Before Kakashi could defend himself, Gai had shoved him off the bed, right onto the floor.

"Gah! What the fuck!" Kakashi turned his outraged expression upwards to Gai's scowling face.

"You are the least cowardly person I know!" he yelled, "snap out of it!"

"Maybe you don't know me very well then!" Kakashi retorted.

Gai laughed mirthlessly, "fine. Answer this one question then. All those people you have ever cared for: Rin and Obito and Yondaime and your father, if you could go back in time and stop yourself from loving them, would you?"

"I…" Kakashi clenched his fists, "no."

Gai smiled, "then why do you want to stop yourself from loving this person?"

Kakashi looked up into Gai's smiling face, and felt his resolve begin to crumble.

"THEN WHERE THE HELL IS HE?"

Both Kakashi and Gai looked back towards the door. Sakura's voice, easily recognisable at such a volume, was practically shaking the walls.

Kakashi climbed to his feet and backed up towards the bed just as the door crashed open.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura marched into the room, "you're supposed to be in bed!"

Kakashi hopped up onto the bed beside Gai and flashed her a smile, "I am!"

Sakura took a deep breath, "Good morning Gai-sensei," she smiled sweetly, "I'm glad you're recovering," before Gai could reply her steel focus was back upon the only other person in the room, "Kakashi-sensei, you need to get back to your own room!"

She spun on her heels and marched back into the corridor, "now!" she bellowed back to him.

Kakashi winced and gave a defeated look towards Gai.

"Hey, Gai," Kakashi sighed.

"Yes, my Eternal Rival," Gai asked.

Kakashi jumped off the bed and smiled at him, "I'm glad you're alright."

Kakashi followed Sakura into the corridor before Gai could recover from the surprise evident on his face at the sudden and unexpected sentiment.

Sakura was tapping her foot impatiently back in Kakashi's room, wielding a syringe like a kunai and glowering.

"Do you do these things just to worry everyone?" she cried, "why do you always feel the need to go missing? It's annoying!"

Kakashi held his hands up in defeat and edged around her towards the bed. Pakkun was cowering on the floor beneath the bed, and Kakashi wished that he could join him.

"Sorry, Sakura-chan," Kakashi smiled, "I'm fine, you shouldn't worry so much."

She growled and pulled on his arm, clutching the syringe dangerously, "how can I not worry?" she shrieked, "you keep trying to get yourself killed! I thought that building had flattened you, and you're telling me I shouldn't worry! You're supposed to worry about the people that are important to you, it's normal!"

Kakashi's eyes widened when he jabbed the needle into the crook of his elbow, but it wasn't the prick that caused his shock.

"Important?" Kakashi asked quietly, "I'm important to you Sakura?"

Sakura's eyes flitted to his for an instant before she frowned back to his arm, her face turning pink.

Kakashi didn't know what to say. He had assumed that Sakura never gave him a second thought, not now that she had a new teacher and they hardly saw one another. But the reason they hardly saw one another was because Kakashi had taken to avoiding her. He thought of Sakura as one of those who had left him behind, he assumed she had forgotten him along with Naruto and Sasuke.

"Please be more careful Kakashi-sensei," Sakura said softly as she pulled the syringe from his flesh.

He hadn't really lost her at all. He'd just been too busy feeling sorry for himself to realise.

He hadn't lost everyone. So maybe he wouldn't lose Iruka either.

oO0Oo

Iruka glanced around the empty classroom, as though the secrets of the universe were hidden in the corners of the room. He could hear the laughter of the students outside as they enjoyed their lunch break, and wondered why he couldn't get the nervous butterflies out of his stomach.

"Hello in there!"

Iruka's head snapped towards the doorway, where Suzume was peeking in, her eyebrows rising curiously above the frames of her glasses.

"Thought I'd come and share my lunch with you," she smiled as she kicked the door shut behind her, "you got here so late I assumed you wouldn't have had time to make any for yourself."

Iruka opened his mouth to thank her, but all that came out was an agonised bleat.

"Are you okay?" she frowned worriedly, "where were you this morning?"

Iruka squeezed his eyes shut and swallowed the lump in his throat, "at the hospital."

Suzume tensed, "are you alright?"

Iruka shook his head frantically, "no, no, I'm fine! Everyone's fine! I was just…" Iruka thought back on the unconscious form of Kakashi, the unguarded way he had slept, and groaned helplessly as he dropped his head onto his desk.

"Spill," Suzume sighed as she dragged one of the students' chairs towards the other side of Iruka's desk, "what happened?"

"Suzume," Iruka moaned pathetically, not looking up, "I have inappropriate feelings for one of my superiors."

There was silence for a moment before Suzume replied.

"And the problem is..?"

He whipped his head up and frowned at her, "that it's inappropriate."

She smiled indulgently, "since when has that ever stopped anyone?"

Iruka rolled his eyes, "they don't like me in the same way."

"You can't know that," she replied.

"He's the straightest man on the planet," Iruka gritted out.

"Oh," she winced, "well… um… how do you know for sure? Just because he's had girlfriends or whatever…"

"He reads Icha Icha Paradise," Iruka informed her, "_all_ the _time_!"

Suzume blinked and collapsed into the chair she had fetched.

"Holy shit!" she yelped, "you're talking about Hatake Kakashi!"

Iruka groaned again and smacked his forehead back into the desk.


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen**

The room was empty. The bed was pristinely made, fresh sheets were folded snugly around the mattress; Iruka stood frozen in the doorway, blinking in confusion at the sight.

Where was Kakashi? Iruka had said he would come back after his classes were over, and even though he had hesitated outside the hospital, filled with nervousness that he couldn't chase away, he had still climbed the stairs and ventured to the jounin's room. But Kakashi wasn't there, and Iruka didn't know if he was more disappointed, or more relieved.

The fact that he was attracted to Kakashi was no big deal, it was something he could live with, he could ignore it if he had too. He found plenty of people attractive but didn't feel the need to dwell upon it. But it was different with Kakashi, because his thoughts _did_ dwell on the jounin. It wasn't simply a physical attraction; somewhere along the line his emotions had become tangled around Kakashi, until he had tied himself in an inescapable knot around the man.

He wanted to be friends with Kakashi. He didn't want to imagine kissing him every five minutes. That would make everything far too awkward.

"Hello Iruka-sensei."

Iruka felt himself being sucked back to reality, away from the places his thoughts had been taking him. Hanabi was standing across the corridor, looking at him with a slightly curious expression on her face.

"Oh, hello Hanabi-chan," he smiled, "what are you doing here?"

"I came to visit someone," she replied blankly, "what about you Iruka-sensei, why are you here?"

Iruka turned back to the empty bed and felt his heart begin to slowly spiral downwards in his chest, "I came to see Kakashi-sensei," he replied quietly, "but he isn't here."

When he turned back to Hanabi, one of the girl's eyebrows had quirked, it was the only change in her emotionless expression.

"Was he sick?" she asked.

Iruka smiled and shook his head as he closed the door to the room that had been Kakashi's. "No, he was injured, but he's fine."

Hanabi nodded once, "then perhaps he went home Iruka-sensei."

He smiled at her, but he could feel the smile straining his face. He felt the sudden urge to run to Kakashi's apartment, but it was a foolish desire, there was no reason for it. He couldn't let some stupid crush start controlling his actions.

"Probably," he replied, "I'd better go then. Who are you visiting Hanabi-chan?"

Hanabi blinked, and her eyebrow quirked even higher up her brow, "is this where you were this morning Iruka-sensei? With Kakashi-sensei? Is that why you were late?"

Iruka felt himself flush in embarrassment. He didn't need to feel embarrassed, he had had every right to remain in the hospital and wait for Kakashi to wake up. They were friends, or something close to friends, and Iruka had been on Kakashi's team when he was injured. There was no reason for him to feel embarrassed.

But that didn't explain why Iruka felt as though he had been caught doing something he shouldn't. All of the reasons he could come up with for waiting at Kakashi's bedside, no matter how valid, were lies. He had waited because he was worried sick, more worried than he had the right to be.

It wasn't just a crush. He had real feelings for the man. It was wonderful and horrible at the same time.

"I need to go," he said.

Hanabi nodded, "goodbye Iruka-sensei."

oO0Oo

Hanabi watched Iruka retreat down the corridor and fought the satisfied smirk from her face. So she had been right after all, Iruka-sensei had been with his boyfriend. Well, perhaps not his boyfriend, not yet anyway.

She turned away from her teacher and continued her progress down the corridor, until she reached the door to Gai-sensei's room.

Gai-sensei was laughing loudly, while his student, Tenten, turned bright red and hid her face in her hands. Hanabi knocked loudly on the already open door before striding purposefully into the room, eyes fixed upon Tenten who was watching her curiously.

"I need to speak to Gai-sensei," she said to the young woman, "alone."

Tenten frowned. She looked as though she was about to argue when her teacher spoke.

"Hanabi-chan!" he beamed, "what a wonderful surprise! It is so gracious of you to come and visit me during my convalescence; of course Tenten will be only too pleased to give us a few moments alone."

Tenten's lips flapped, but no argument came out. Instead she grumbled something under her breath and marched out of the door, slamming it loudly behind her.

"What can I do for you Hanabi-chan?" Gai grinned.

Hanabi wasn't looking at him, she was staring at the closed door, through it, to Tenten who was pressed up against the door, listening intently.

Hanabi moved silently to the door and yanked it open, watching the kunoichi who fell awkwardly through the suddenly opened doorway with dangerously narrowed eyes.

"Ah!" Tenten chuckled nervously and backed out of the door, "I'll be going then."

Hanabi closed the door; the idiot should have known better, being on a team with Neji. Hanabi rolled her eyes in annoyance and turned back to Gai-sensei.

"I am honoured that you would seek me out with such a personal problem Hanabi-chan," Gai-sensei proclaimed, tears springing to his eyes, "it must be very important if you do not wish anyone else to know about it. Anything I can do I will…"

"You're Kakashi-sensei's eternal rival?" Hanabi interrupted him before he could really get going.

Gai looked startled for a moment, before his beaming grin returned, "I am indeed!"

"So you know a lot about him?"

Gai's grin remained, although some of the cheer faded from his eyes, to be replaced with something slightly warning.

"I know as much about him as anyone," he said, "why do you ask Hanabi-chan?"

"I want to know if he has a girlfriend."

Gai was deadly silent for a moment, before he horrified Hanabi by clutching his sides and laughing so hard he shook the bed. His guffaws could probably be heard throughout the hospital, and all Hanabi could do was wait for the noise to stop, she couldn't very well be heard over the racket.

When Gai wiped his eyes, his laughs subdued to quiet chuckles, Hanabi was standing at the foot of the bed, arms folded across her chest and glaring up at the man.

"Hanabi-chan," Gai said breathlessly, "I am sure my Eternal Rival would be flattered, but I think you are slightly too young to…"

"WHAT?" she squawked, before she remembered herself and schooled her features, clearing her throat loudly. She could feel her blood pressure begin to soar through the roof, why was she surrounded by idiots on all sides?

"That wasn't why I was asking," she said, with a voice like cool venom.

"Really?" Gai nodded, but his lips were twitching amusedly, "I suppose there is no harm in telling you. Kakashi does not have a girlfriend."

Hanabi's eyes narrowed mischievously, she allowed Gai to see her smirk.

"What about a boyfriend?"

If Hanabi were anyone other than who she was, she would have laughed outright at the expression on Gai-sensei's face. All the humour had dropped out of him, he looked utterly shocked and mightily uncomfortable under Hanabi's gaze all of a sudden.

"How do you..?" Gai shook himself and frowned.

_How do you… _what? How did she know? Had that been what he was about to ask? Hanabi edged closer to him subconsciously, ready to pry answers out of him if she had to.

"He… no," Gai said, "he… he doesn't."

Hanabi cocked her head to the side, "but he likes someone." It wasn't a question.

Gai's eyebrows drew together; Hanabi had never seen the man look so serious, or so annoyed.

"Hanabi," he warned, "I do not know why you have taken such an interest in my Eternal Rival's love life, but you shouldn't involve yourself in things that do not concern you. Kakashi's private life is…"

"I know who it is."

Gai fell completely silent, regarding her with slight suspicion.

"You know who it is," he repeated.

She nodded.

"How?" he asked.

She shrugged nonchalantly, "I notice things."

The door swung open suddenly. Tenten peered in, an annoyed light to her features. Hanabi regarded her coolly, aware that Gai's eyes had not left her face despite the interruption.

"Are you two finished yet," Tenten asked irritably.

Hanabi turned back to Gai, who was still looking at her with a slight frown.

"No Tenten," Gai replied suddenly, "Hanabi and I have a lot to talk about, could you come back later?"

Hanabi had to concentrate to stop a grin from spreading over her face.

oO0Oo

Shinichi could hear the blood rushing though his ears as he strained them to listen. He was poised to flee at the first bark, at the first hint that he was being followed he would be gone. The first sign of a nin-dog and there would be nothing left of him but a trail of dust.

After coming so far, he wasn't about to be caught. Not yet. He hadn't thought about what would happen to him after he had had his revenge, but it didn't really matter. He had nothing left anyway.

He couldn't go back to the teahouse. If he was being tracked then returning there was too dangerous. Instead he wandered through the streets of Konoha, pondering the new development in his plan for vengeance.

He slowed his steps when his stomach grumbled loudly.

He hadn't eaten anything since he had been sitting atop the roof across from the hospital courtyard, watching Kakashi. His stomach felt like it was tying itself in knots around his spine, and the aromas floating out into the street were like sublime torture.

What he wouldn't give for some fish. Salmon, or monkfish, or eel. Or calamari from the stand at the end of the high street back in Hidden Mist. He had an ongoing tab there, one that he wouldn't be able to pay off now.

As his stomach groaned at him again he turned into the food stand to his left, practically floating along on the smells coming from within.

"What's this?" the girl behind the counter asked her companion as Shinichi slid onto one of the stools and salivated as he perused the menu. Ramen, ramen, ramen. Maybe there would be some seafood ramen.

"What?" an older man, wielding a spatula, shuffled towards her and peered at what she was holding in her arms, "they're clothes."

"I can see that!" the girl spat, "but why are they here? They're a shinobi uniform aren't they?"

"Hmm," Shinichi looked towards them as his stomach growled again, ready to wave one of them over and order everything on the menu, "oh, they're Iruka-sensei's."

Shinichi raised his hand and opened his mouth to yell for one of them.

"He left them here yesterday I think," the man continued, "he ran out after Kakashi-san and didn't come back for them."

Shinichi dropped his hand and snapped his mouth shut.

"Yeah," the girl sighed, "he's really gorgeous."

"Yeah well," the man replied, "Iruka-sensei didn't seem very happy with the way you were drooling over the poor guy."

"Wha..?" she glared at him, "I wasn't drooling!"

"Do something useful won't you?" the man replied, "take those back to Iruka-sensei and apologise for making a nuisance of yourself, he probably won't come here with Kakashi-san again because of you."

"Oh, be quiet," she sniffed as she folded the clothes, "by the way, we have a customer."

Shinichi slid swiftly out of his seat and wandered back out into the street.

"Look at that!" the man yelled as Shinichi paused just outside the ramen stand, "thanks to you, that's another customer driven away!"

"Don't blame me!"

Shinichi scratched his arm and tucked a strand of hair behind his ear as he waited. His heart was doing double time.

_Iruka-sensei, why do you have Kakashi-sensei's clothes?_

_Knowing him, something perverted must have happened. I bet he's corrupting Iruka-sensei._

_Iruka-sensei didn't seem very happy with the way you were drooling over the poor guy._

_I think I have… feelings for someone._

The girl swept out into the street, a small pile of dark clothes in her arms, whistling happily to herself. Shinichi watched her wander down the street, until she was nearly at the corner, before he followed.

If his suspicions were correct, it would be very useful indeed to know where Iruka-sensei lived.

oO0Oo

He had trained the dog far too well. It had taken him an hour to get out of his own apartment; Pakkun had taken on the role of guard dog, and refused to allow Kakashi to get up for anything other than to use the bathroom.

For such a small dog, he couldn't half bite.

Kakashi absently bent over and rubbed his poor abused ankle. The first time he had tried to escape, the pug had attached his jaws to Kakashi's ankle, growling about how Sakura had ordered him to stay in bed for the rest of the day.

It had taken a hastily rewired trap, a strategically placed slice of bacon, and speed the Yellow Flash would have been proud of to finally escape.

But now that he was finally standing outside Iruka's house, he was beginning to wish his escape had been foiled after all. Back in his apartment he had been focused on getting out so he could see Iruka, but now he was actually leaning against the chuunin's front door, waiting for him to show up, there were electric butterflies dancing in his stomach.

Was it normal for him to feel such nervous excitement? He just wanted to talk to the chuunin, nothing else. There was no explaination for the way his stomach would drop at sporadic intervals as he waited, or why he felt so breathless as another minute ticked away.

He hadn't felt like this last time he had spoken to the chuunin. Maybe it was a mistake. He had thought he could be friends with Iruka, he had decided that it was a risk he was willing to take, to let someone else into his life. Gai certainly seemed to be all for the idea. But he was beginning to have second thoughts. If he was going to feel so anxious whenever he was around Iruka then he should forget the entire notion.

"Kakashi-sensei!"

Kakashi jumped, startled by the sudden intrusion upon his thoughts. His breath stilled in his chest when he looked down the steps to where Iruka was standing.

"Wh… what are you doing here?" Iruka asked. The schoolteacher's cheeks were beginning to burn right before Kakashi's eyes. He looked surprised, but Kakashi couldn't tell is it was a good surprised, or a bad surprised.

"Um," Kakashi swallowed past the lump in his throat. His mouth suddenly felt dry, he could feel the heavy beat of his heart reverberating through his entire body.

"I…" Iruka took a hesitant step up towards Kakashi, "are you feeling alright?"

Kakashi tried to answer, but there was something in his throat preventing it. He nodded.

Iruka smiled. It was a small smile, slightly nervous maybe, but happy nonetheless. It was surprisingly sweet.

"I went to the hospital," Iruka confessed as he shuffled on the spot, his eyes flitting to Kakashi's face, then to the floor, then back again, "but you were gone already, so…"

"Iruka-sensei!"

Both Kakashi and Iruka turned to the source of the sound. Kakashi found himself frowning in irritation at the girl from the ramen stand. He wondered how he could shoo her away so that he could be alone with Iruka again without offending anyone.

"Oh, Kakashi-san," she breathed and smiled, "hello again."

She scurried up the steps, smiling brightly, staring blatantly at Kakashi's masked face. Kakashi's eyes kept alternating between her smile and the scowl that Iruka was aiming at her.

"Can I help you with something, Ayame-san?" Iruka asked.

"Hm?" she spared him a glance before looking back at Kakashi, "oh, I brought your clothes, you left them at Ichiraku."

"Thank you," Iruka said pointedly and snatched them out of Ayame's hands with a very forced looking smile.

"You're welcome," she replied.

Kakashi watched her watching him and began to feel just a little uncomfortable.

"Was there something else you wanted, Ayame-san?" Iruka asked. It sounded as though he was gritting his teeth.

"Um, no," she admitted, and blushed slightly.

"Goodbye then," Iruka replied.

Ayame's face fell, "um, bye."

She gave Kakashi one last dazzling smile before running down the steps and down the street as fast as she could.

"Couldn't be anymore obvious if she tried," Kakashi heard Iruka mutter as he plunged his hand into his pocket.

"Obvious about what?" Kakashi asked.

Iruka snapped his head up to look at Kakashi, his cheeks flaming once again, "it… nothing, it doesn't matter," he pulled his keys out of his pocket and smiled, "would you like to come in?"

Kakashi's breath hitched. Well, he hadn't expected to stand on the doorstep all day once Iruka had returned, but still, the invitation set off the butterflies again.

He nodded. Iruka chuckled softly, nervously, and then dropped his keys.

"Shit," he hissed, his face darkening under his blush even more.

Kakashi knelt down a moment before Iruka did, but Iruka's hand curled around the keys resting on the doorstep before Kakashi's could pick them up. Kakashi found his own hand curled around Iruka's, and even though he knew he should take his hand back before he embarrassed himself, his brain had ceased communicating with the rest of his body.

He was looking at their hands, his resting over Iruka's, rather than looking into the chuunin's face. Iruka probably thought he was insane.

He didn't want to let go.

"K-Kakashi…" Iruka's voice was barely even a whisper.

Kakashi jerked up at the sound of a dog howling somewhere nearby. He was back on his feet, looking down onto the street in an instant, straining his ears for the sound of the dog again. He recognised the howl as Kuromaru's, and since the Inuzukas were hunting for the missing-nin that was hiding in Konoha, there was only one thing that howl could mean.

Kuromaru had found him.

"Kakashi-sensei," Kakashi turned at the sound of his voice. Iruka had opened the door and was chewing on his lower lip, "are you going to come in?"

Kakashi pushed all thoughts of missing-nins to the back of his head and followed Iruka through the doorway.

oO0Oo

Shinichi skidded around the corner and into the alley behind a restauraunt. The stench of garbage seemed to drown out the rest of the world, he covered his face with his hand to block out the smell and he wedged himself behind the bins and waited, listening.

His heart was pounding, but he didn't know if it was fear or excitement. He had seen the Copy-nin and that schoolteacher together, shuffling awkwardly around one another. He had seen the look on the teacher's face when the ramen girl stared unabashedly at the Copy-nin, and the way Kakashi had wrapped his hand around the teacher's and hesitated to let go.

They were so damn obvious, like a pair of schoolboys with a crush. The idea of Sharingan Kakashi behaving like an awkward, hormonal teenager around the object of his affections brought a cruel smirk to Shinichi's face. It was just too funny, who would have thought Hatake Kakashi was human enough to have the hots for someone?

But this was better than Shinichi had imagined. Killing a chuunin would be far easier than killing a jounin. Gai was still an option, but Iruka was a far more attractive piece of prey. Shinichi was a jounin, not as powerful or as skilled as Kakashi, but he should be more than capable of murdering a schoolteacher.

His blood turned to ice once again when he heard the barks. He couldn't outrun the dogs on his tail, he had to think of another way of evading them.

He leapt across to the skip at the other side of the alley and threw it wide open. It was filled with rancid meat and rotting vegetables and the smell was enough to make him gag.

He took a deep breath and jumped in, wriggling himself into the rubbish with disgust all over his face as his fingers danced through seal after seal.

Grey clouds gathered in the sky, and as he jumped back out of the garbage, the heavens cracked open and the first raindrop fell.

oO0Oo

Iruka dropped his clothes onto the couch and whipped back around to face Kakashi. He had to force himself not to fidget, he was almost twitching with nerves. But Kakashi was in his house again, and Iruka was wracking his brains for a way to get him to stay.

"So… um…"

He couldn't think of anything to say. His mind was still fixated on the way Kakashi's hand felt wrapped around his. In that single moment, the world had stood still, it felt as though they had been crouched there on his doorstep for much longer than they actually had.

He hadn't meant to speak, he wanted to wait in that moment for longer, but Kakashi's name had fallen from his lips, and his voice had sounded so needy he wanted to kick himself.

As soon as he had said Kakashi's name, Kakashi had taken his hand away, as though the touch of Iruka's skin was burning him.

"My clothes," Kakashi said, breaking into Iruka's thoughts.

"Huh?" Iruka swallowed and licked his suddenly dry lips. Kakashi was standing across the room, with his hands in his pockets, one single eye suffocating Iruka with the weight of Kakashi's gaze.

"Um," Kakashi's eye arched into a smile, "you still have my clothes, Iruka-sensei."

Clothes? Oh. Iruka felt his face heat up again as he hurried towards the staircase, "of course, I forgot, just wait there."

He dived up the stairs, almost falling on his face as he reached the top.

It was just Kakashi. He had to keep reminding himself of that if he hoped to keep his sanity. Just Kakashi, who had been in Iruka's house before, they had shared tea, they had sat in the hospital together waiting for news on Gai, they had been on a mission together, they had eaten ramen together. It was just Kakashi. He didn't need to panic.

He was panicking. He couldn't find Kakashi's clothes. He didn't know if he wanted to laugh or cry. He sank down onto the bed and heaved a calming breath. He had no idea why he was reacting in such a way. So he was attracted to him, that was no reason to lose his head. There were plenty of good looking people in the village and Iruka never reacted to _them_ like this.

He ran the palm of his left hand over the back of his right. Where Kakashi has placed his own hand over Iruka's.

Iruka jumped up from the bed, suddenly remembering where he had left Kakashi's clothes and feeling like a complete fool.

He forced himself to walk calmly down the stairs, concentrating on breathing evenly. When he walked back into the main room of his house, a smile plastered onto his face, Kakashi was still standing where Iruka had left him, glancing at the pictures on the walls and absently rubbing his left arm.

His injured arm.

"Are you sure it's alright for you to be up and about?" Iruka asked as he crossed the room, "shouldn't you be resting?"

"I'm fine," Kakashi replied softly, dropping his hand to his side, "thank you, but you don't need to worry about me Iruka-sensei."

"I can't help it," Iruka chuckled, "you um… saved my life. Again. I didn't thank you."

"You don't have to," Kakashi replied hastily, "I just… didn't want anything to happen to you."

Iruka felt as though his heart had tripled in size. There wasn't enough room in his chest to fit both his heart and air in his lungs. He was smiling, fit to burst.

"I'll… just get your clothes," he breathed as he walked around the jounin to the kitchen.

He was being a girl, but Kakashi didn't want anything to happen to him, and it was wonderful.

He cleared his throat as he opened the cupboard, afraid that when he next spoke he'd sound all high pitched. Kakashi's uniform was still there, next to the packets of instant ramen. He clamped his fingers over the material and pulled it out.

"You keep clothes in the kitchen cupboards?" a voice purred behind him, amused.

He spun around and found Kakashi in the doorway, his single exposed eye sparkling in amusement.

"I…no," he said, smiling ruefully at himself, "no, just yours."

Kakashi's eyebrow raised, "just mine?"

Iruka felt his stomach quiver, he held out the clothes and chuckled nervously, "here."

Kakashi just looked at the clothes for a moment, before taking them from Iruka's outstretched hands.

Iruka stepped back and clasped his hands behind his back, smiling despite himself at Kakashi and trying to think of something, anything to say next.

But confronted with the sight of Kakashi standing in his kitchen with something in his eye that might have been… fondness? He couldn't find any words.

Kakashi's gaze wandered from Iruka's face to a point just over the chuunin's shoulder, and the look that might have been fondness turned into suspicious confusion.

"What is it?" Iruka asked, looking over his shoulder to follow Kakashi's line of sight.

The only things behind him were the kitchen sink and the window. Out in the street the rain was lashing downwards.

"I didn't think it was going to rain today," Iruka frowned before turning back to Kakashi, "it was sunny a few minutes ago."

"Mmm," Kakashi hummed, still frowning towards the window.

"So," Iruka sighed shakily, "you're welcome to stay until the rain stops," the flare of hope that exploded in his stomach was white hot and desperate, "if you'd like."

Kakashi looked back at Iruka, his eye had widened slightly, "I… I wouldn't want to put you to any trouble."

"No trouble," Iruka shook his head quickly, "I'd like you to stay."

Kakashi smiled, even through the mask Iruka could see it.

"Alright then."

Iruka's smile widened, "tea?"

oO0Oo

The Mizukage had taught Shinichi how to make it rain. But Shinichi didn't have the Mizukage's stamina. He couldn't feed his chakra through the raindrops for long, not like the Mizukage could. Shinichi couldn't use the rain to feel out his surroundings, he couldn't map out the land by the way the rain fell upon the ground. But he _could_ feel the rain that fell a few metres around him. So he knew that there was a dog a couple of yards behind him, because he could feel the rain falling upon it.

When he turned around to look, the dog growled.

It was a large dog. Not as large as the bull dog he had drowned, but bigger than he liked. It was black and vicious looking, and wore an eye patch over one eye.

It had incredibly sharp looking teeth.

"Crap," Shinichi hissed as he turned slowly to face the animal, afraid to make any sudden movements, "um, good doggie…"

The dog growled louder.

"Good doggie," Shinichi tried inching slowly backwards, "stay."

The dog stopped growling and blinked at him.

"That's right, good doggie," Shinichi cooed, "stay there."

"For your sake," the dog ground out suddenly, "I hope you're just retarded, because if you think that's an appropriate way to talk to me then I'll rip your fucking throat out."

Shinichi halted and his eyebrows shot into his hairline.

"I hate dogs," he muttered to himself.

The dog narrowed his eye, and seemed to smirk, "now," he said, "be a good human, and stay."

Shinichi glowered at the mutt as it raised its head and let out a howl loud enough to pierce eardrums.

The dog looked back at him and stepped forward, "who are you and what's your business in Konoha?"

Shinichi sighed and cracked his knuckles. He refused to be captured now.

"I suggest you let me go," he told the animal.

The dog shook its head, droplets of water flew from it's fur.

"Not going to happen."

Shinichi shrugged and formed a seal. The dog leapt forwards at the movement, teeth bared, ready to make good on his promise and rip out Shinichi's throat, but he wasn't fast enough, because the jutsu the Mizukage had taught him wasn't only used to scope out the landscape.

The rain around Shinichi ceased falling downwards, and shot out, like tiny water bullets. It whipped around him like a tiny cyclone and gushed towards the dog, knocking it back.

There was blood in the rain as each drop slammed into the dog's body, eating into his flesh with the speed at which they travelled.

Shinichi waited until the dogs whimpers ceased before releasing the jutsu. The rain began falling again, hitting the earth the way it was supposed to.

Shinichi turned away from the huddled mess on the ground, tired after expending his chakra like that, and walked towards the trees.

oO0Oo

The picture stuck to the refrigerator had caught Kakashi's attention. It was held up by an apple shaped fridge magnet. He recognised it immediately, he had an exact copy in a frame in his apartment. Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke. The image brought a small smile to his face.

He was in the picture too, but his face was hidden by the fridge magnet. For some reason, that made him feel slightly sad.

"Naruto gave me a copy," Iruka said. Kakashi turned and smiled at him as the chuunin held out a cup of tea, "so that I wouldn't forget what he looks like."

Kakashi chuckled and took the teacup. The heat of the liquid soaked into his right hand. He couldn't feel anything in his left, apart from a slight ache when he flexed his fingers.

"How's your arm?" Iruka asked, as though he could read Kakashi's thoughts.

"It's fine," he replied with a smile, and as though to contradict his words, his arm immediately began to ache, "you were injured too weren't you? Are you aright?"

"It was just a couple of cracked ribs," Iruka replied as he blew over his tea, "Sakura fixed me up."

Kakashi smiled, "she'll be a great ninja."

Iruka nodded, beaming like a proud parent, "I know. You should be proud, she was your student after all."

"She was your's too," Kakashi said, "but it's Tsunade who should be proud, she's Sakura's teacher."

"You taught her the basics though," Iruka argued.

Kakashi shook his head, "no, _you_ did. I didn't teach her anything really."

Iruka frowned and put his cup down on the counter, "yes you did. She learnt about teamwork from you, that's more important than anything else she could learn."

Kakashi blinked in surprise at the conviction in Iruka's voice. The chuunin was watching him with such intensity that Kakashi thought he would melt. His fingers tightened around the cup he was holding, and after a moment he had to look away from Iruka's face. He chose to look into his tea instead.

"Let's go sit down," Iruka said finally as he picked up his cup, "I'm not a very good host, making you stand in the kitchen."

Kakashi looked up, ready to argue that he didn't mind standing in the kitchen so long as he was standing with Iruka, but he heard the words in his head before he uttered them, and stopped himself.

Iruka smiled at him and led the way into the main room. Kakashi took one last look at the picture stuck to the fridge, at the apple that covered his face, and followed.

Iruka wandered past the table, much to Kakashi's surprise, and stopped at the faded blue couch, placing his cup on the coffee table before bouncing down onto the cushions.

Kakashi wavered for a moment. The couch wasn't very big, and while he desperately wanted to be close to Iruka, he wondered if it was such a good idea. He wasn't sure he'd be able to stop himself from touching the chuunin without something to separate them.

But Iruka was smiling up at him, his eyebrows raised slightly, and when Kakashi hesitated the smile faltered a little.

Kakashi saw the smile start to fade and moved closer to the couch. He placed his cup down on the table beside Iruka's, but rather than bounce down onto the couch as Iruka had, he lowered himself carefully, making sure that there was a couple of inches between himself and the chuunin.

Iruka smiled at him, but for some strange reason the chuunin blushed suddenly and turned away, picking up his teacup and sipping the liquid.

Kakashi looked at his own tea, cooling on the coffee table. Iruka had asked him if he wanted tea, and he had said yes, but that inferred that he planned to drink it.

He looked back at Iruka, who was still sipping his tea and staring dead ahead, as though determinedly not looking at him. He wanted to drink the tea. Not because he was thirsty, but because he wanted to be able to do something as normal as drink tea with Iruka.

He looked back to the cup, which suddenly seemed so very far away. It shouldn't be difficult really, everybody drank tea, everybody shared a cup with someone every now and again. Everybody but Kakashi, and that was suddenly something that he wanted to change.

He reached out with his good arm, picked up the cup, and held his breath.

oO0Oo

Shinichi stumbled to a halt, leaning heavily against one of the trees. The rain couldn't reach the ground so deep into the forest, it was captured by the canopy of leaves over head. But he was still soaked to the bone. His hair was sticking to his face, his clothes were sopping wet and itching. Somewhere in the distance he could still hear barking. They were _still_ coming for him.

He closed his eyes, just for a moment, and breathed deeply. He shouldn't have used that jutsu to kill the dog, he had used up too much chakra. He had never had much stamina, it was foolish of him to do that. But it was too late now. He just had to keep moving.

He whirled out of the way as a kunai skimmed through the air and thunked into the tree. It had taken a couple of strands of his hair, pinning them to the trunk.

He turned to the direction that the kunai had flown from, and his eyes went wide.

"Hello Shinichi-kun."

The hunter-nin dropped from the tree branch easily, landing softly on the leaves below. Even with the mask, Shinichi knew him at one. He would recognise that blond hair anywhere, longer than he was tall and wrapped around the man's neck in a braid, like a scarf.

He shook the surprise from his face and frowned at the other man, "Jin, what are you doing here?"

The hunter-nin slid his mask from his face, and smiled. The smile was surprisingly warm for someone who had been throwing kunai a moment ago.

"I'm taking you home Shinichi," he replied.

oO0Oo

His father had worn a mask. Not all the time, not like Kakashi, just while he was on missions, to hide his face from his enemies.

He hadn't been wearing a mask when he killed himself. Kakashi wished that he had been. Then he wouldn't have had to see the face of his father's corpse.

It had been quiet when he got home, but it had been quiet in his family's house for a while, so Kakashi hadn't given it a second thought. It was the scent of blood that made him wander through the rooms until he came to the garden.

His father's eyes had been open, looking at him. He looked the same as he always had, only different. It was the difference that stayed with Kakashi.

"You look exactly like your father," everyone would say. But when he tried to picture his father's face, it was only the difference he could see.

He didn't want to wear the face of a corpse. So he wore a mask instead.

Iruka was still looking straight ahead as he sipped his tea. Kakashi swallowed hard, he cradled his cup in his lap, and raised his hand to his face.

He could see Iruka's eyes go wide as he lowered the material. But the chuunin didn't look. He kept his wide eyes forward, but he had stopped sipping, he was simply holding his cup to his lips, frozen solid.

Kakashi raised his cup and took one single, small sip. Then placed the cup back down and pulled his mask up again.

Iruka was still looking straight ahead. His eyes were still wide. He hadn't looked when Kakashi had given him the opportunity.

Iruka took a shuddering breath, and continued to sip.

Kakashi grinned, stupidly happy, and made himself comfortable on the couch.

oO0Oo

Shinichi raised his hand and tugged the kunai out of the wood. The few strands of his hair that the kunai had taken with it floated to the ground.

"I'm not going home," Shinichi replied, not looking up at his friend, "you've had a wasted journey Jin."

"Please Shinichi," Jin pleaded softly, "I know you, you'd never abandon us. Why are you doing this?"

Shinichi turned to regard the other man coldly, "leave."

Jin shook his head, "I _am_ taking you home. I'll carry you back unconscious if I have to."

Shinichi smirked, "aren't your orders to kill me?"

Jin shook his head, "only if your resist."

"I _am_ going to resist."

"I'm not going to kill you," Jin said as he took a step closer to him, "please don't make me fight you. The Mizukage is beside himself, everyone is worried, we thought you had finally found Zabuza and he'd killed you."

Shinichi had to look away from the concern in Jin's face. Seeing the other man was painful, it hurt to have his home flaunted in front of him. He missed his village, his friends, he had missed Jin, and now here he was, asking him to come home.

The barking was getting louder.

"I can't come home," Shinichi admitted, looking to the ground, "not yet."

"Why?" Jin asked, "tell me what's wrong, please, I'll help you."

Shinichi laughed bitterly, "will you kill Sharingan Kakashi for me?"

Jin frowned, "what are you talking about?"

He looked up, glaring hotly across the leaves and roots towards the man who was once his friend.

"Zabuza is dead."

Jin seemed to sag in relief, "you killed him."

With a bitter smirk, Shinichi shook his head, "Sharingan Kakashi killed him. I found the body."

Jin's eyes went wide with pity, "I know it must be painful…"

"NO!" Shinichi yelled, "you don't know! He was my brother! Mine! I was supposed to kill him!"

"What difference does it make?" Jin asked, "why does it matter who killed him? Either way, he's dead."

"You don't understand!" Shinichi spat.

"Then explain it," Jin replied, stepping closer to him.

"I'll never know," Shinichi hissed angrily, "I'll never know if he still loved me!"

"He was your brother," Jin said softly, "of course he loved you."

"Just shut up!" Shinichi cried. He could feel tears stinging at his eyes. He didn't want to cry, he blinked to hold them back.

"You're here for revenge?" Jin asked, "is that it? _You_ were going to kill Zabuza, why do you want revenge on someone for doing the very thing you were going to do?"

"I wanted to bring him back!" Shinichi shouted, voicing for the first time what he had really wanted all along, "I wanted to bring Zabuza back! I wanted my brother back!"

"Shinichi, that's madness," Jin replied, "you couldn't have brought Zabuza home, he would have been executed, you know that."

"I could have talked to the Mizukage…"

"You might be the Mizukage's favourite," Jin shook his head, "but nothing you could have said would persuade him to spare Zabuza's life."

"You don't know that!"

"Yes, I do!" Jin yelled suddenly, "and so do you! This is madness Shinichi, just come home with me. I know you're hurting but everything will be alright if you…"

"NO!" Shinichi's fingers tightened around the handle of the kunai, "I'm not leaving! He killed my brother, and I'm going to make him pay!"

"I'll force you if I have to," Jin replied, his blue eyes were heavy with sadness.

"Try it," Shinichi hissed.

Jin blinked, and then sighed heavily.

"I won't kill you," he said as he slowly began to unwind the braid from a round his neck, "alright? I won't kill you."

Shinichi smirked as Jin dropped his hair from his hands. The end of the braid hit the ground loudly, making a dent in the earth, scattering the leaves.

"I know you won't."

Jin moved before Shinichi finished speaking. He whipped his head around, and Shinichi only barely managed to lunge out of the way as the other man's hair sailed past him. The braid hit the tree Shinichi had been standing in front of, and the sound of wood splintering filled the forest and drowned out the sound of the dogs getting steadily closer.

Shinichi landed a few feet away. His chakra was still low, but he knew all of Jin's moves.

"I know what you're thinking," Jin said sadly, "that you know all of my moves," the blond pulled his braid towards him, until he could reach down and take the end in his hands and pull the metal clasp that kept his hair tied away. "But you're forgetting Shinichi," he separated the folds of hair, unravelling the braid until half of his hair was free, "I know all of your's too."

This time, when he whipped his hair, the individual strands glistened and sliced through everything they touched. Shinichi leapt back again, but a couple of strands sang past him and sliced into his back, like lashes of a whip, slicing through his skin. He could feel blood dripping down his back.

No one in Jin's family ever cut their hair. Not because they didn't want to, but because nothing could cut through it. Each strand was like metal wire, hard and sharp, and it shone like gold in the light.

"Wait!" Shinichi gasped as he fell to his knees; the cuts to his back began to sting in earnest.

Jin paused, his hair fell still.

"You win," Shinichi breathed softly. He couldn't help the tears that escaped his lashes this time. He didn't want to, this time he deserved his tears.

"You'll come back with me?" Jin asked, hope shaking his voice.

Shinichi looked up at him through his tears, "I'm sorry," he said weakly, "you were my best friend you know."

"I still am, stupid," Jin said, smiling joyfully as he ran over to Shinichi, his hair trailed behind him like a river of liquid sunshine.

Shinichi smiled, the tears were hot against his face, he could feel himself rotting on the inside, "help me up then."

Jin grinned and reached his arm out, pulling Shinichi up, "I'm glad I was the one who found you," he said, before he dragged Shinichi into a hug and held him there.

"I'm not," Shinichi replied, before he drove the kunai into his best friend's bared neck, "I'm sorry Jin, I'm so sorry."

When Jin fell out of his arms, his eyes were wide and shocked. Shinichi held onto Jin's upper arms as he fell to his knees at Shinichi's feet, looking up at him with blood streaming from the wound in his neck.

His very soul felt like it was rotting. Jin's eyes softened, and through the blood he smiled up at Shinichi.

The barks were louder. The rain had stopped. Shinichi dropped to his knees beside his best friend's body and tried to breath through his sobs.

oO0Oo

When he was sure that the mask had been pulled back up, Iruka placed the cup down on the table with shaking hands, and looked at Kakashi. He had wanted to look. He couldn't remember ever wanting anything more. But he also wanted to be given permission. Kakashi's face was always hidden, and to be allowed to look would be the kind of privilege some would kill for.

But he didn't just want to see Kakashi's face. He wanted Kakashi to show him.

Kakashi was smiling. He wasn't looking at Iruka, he was staring at the teacup. It was still almost full, he had only taken a sip. But for a moment he had bared his face, and even though Iruka hadn't looked, he felt the need to thank him. Kakashi trusted him enough to take off his mask, and it made Iruka so incredibly grateful he had to say something.

"Kakashi-sen…"

"Do you have any biscuits?" Kakashi asked suddenly, looking into Iruka's face.

"Huh? I…" Iruka swallowed, "y-yes. Would you like some."

Kakashi nodded.

Iruka smiled. His breath had caught, he felt as though he was dying from oxygen deprivation, but it felt so good he never wanted to breathe again.

"I'll go and get some," he said as he rose from the couch.

As soon as he had turned away from Kakashi the smile on his face grew wide enough to break him in two. He was still shaking, and he didn't know why. He felt like he could float away, unsteady as he was.

Hatake Kakashi had taken his mask off in Iruka's house, with Iruka right there. No one would ever believe him.

But he was never going to tell anyone anyway, because he wanted to keep it for himself. He wanted to keep that little part of Kakashi that no one else was allowed for his own. He might not have looked, but Kakashi had given him more than he gave anyone else, he had given him the opportunity, and that was something Iruka didn't want to share with anyone.

He reached into the cupboard for a packet of plain, boring old biscuits, wondering if Kakashi would like them, if he would even eat them, if he would take his mask down again to eat one. But even if he did, Iruka wouldn't look.

But he hoped Kakashi would tell him to.

As he turned to walk back into the main room, the picture on the fridge stopped him.

He put the biscuits on the counter, and slid the apple shaped fridge magnet to the side. The photograph was hanging at an odd angle with the magnet pinning it at the corner, but now he could see all of their faces. As wonky as it was, they were all there.

He grinned and swiped up the biscuits again, before walking back to Kakashi.

oO0Oo

Shinichi secured the mask over his face just as the first dog leapt through the leaves and skidded to a halt opposite him. It was huge. Massive and white and feral looking.

It growled at him; its jaws were probably big enough to take his head off.

After a second the bushes moved, and a boy stumbled after the animal.

"Hold on Akamaru," the boy said, glaring at Shinichi, and then looking down at the body at Shinichi's feet.

"The others are right behind me," the boy warned Shinichi.

Shinichi shrugged and looked down at Jin. He had closed Jin's eyes. They hadn't been as blue as they once were. The sight had almost caused him to come undone.

"I'm a hunter-nin," Shinichi told the boy, not looking up from Jin's face, "I'm not your enemy."

"Like hell!" the boy yelled heatedly, "you killed Kuromaru you bastard!"

Before the boy or his beast of an animal could move, two more figures pushed through the bushes, with dogs growling at their heels.

"Don't Kiba," the young woman warned, holding an arm out as though to keep the boy back. She was watching Shinichi suspiciously.

"If you attack me it will be regarded as an act of war," Shinichi warned, "hunter-nin are permitted to pass though foreign countries while tracking their targets."

The woman nodded, and then looked to the muddy coloured mongrel at her heels.

The dog leapt towards Jin's body, jabbing its muzzle into his side.

Shinichi clenched his fists, wanting nothing more than to kick the mutt away from Jin's body. Jin's clothes were too big for him, his fists were hidden by the fabric of the sleeves.

The dog made a snuffling sound and moved back to its master.

"It's him," the woman said to her companions before looking back to Shinichi, the suspicion had left her face, "your target had been hiding in our village."

Shinichi nodded as he knelt down, unfastening Jin's pack from around his waist and spreading it open, revealing the equipment every hunter-nin carried.

"He won't be bothering you any more," he replied as he took out the necessary items, "would you like to watch as I destroy the body?"

The woman looked at the boy beside her. His eyes had gone wide as he watched Shinichi work.

"That won't be necessary," she replied, "we'll leave you too it."

Shinichi watched them go before he lit the fire. He wanted to be alone as his friend burned.

oO0Oo

Kakashi's cup was empty when Iruka returned with the biscuits. His mask was back over his face, but Iruka was still smiling as he placed the biscuits upon the table.

"Kakashi-sensei," he began as he dropped back into the seat. His thigh was touching Kakashi's, and the contact spread heat through him. He looked down at their legs, at where they were touching, and lost his train of thought.

"Yes?" Kakashi asked.

Iruka looked up into his face, and smiled to hide his embarrassment at having drifted away like that.

He might have imagined it, but Kakashi's voice sounded a little strained.

"Sorry," Iruka said softly, "so, um, Kakashi-sensei…"

"Kakashi," the jounin interrupted.

Iruka blinked, "what?"

"Call me Kakashi," the man said carefully, "just Kakashi."

To Iruka, it seemed as though the world had fallen away. There was nothing apart from himself and Kakashi, sitting together, so close their thighs were touching.

He wanted to lean over and bury his face in Kakashi's shoulder. He wanted to breathe the man in and hold onto him. There was a shiver trying to work its way through him, hovering pleasantly at the base of his spine.

"Kakashi," he said, and he felt as though he was burning in the arms of the sun just saying his name. Just his name.

"Yes, Iruka?" Kakashi asked.

The shiver swept through him, up his spine and through his chest, taking all of the air in his lungs with it.

His name had never sounded as perfect as it did when it was uttered in Kakashi's voice. It was like a purr, it shimmered in the air between them and sent flames dancing along Iruka's skin.

"I…" he had to drag in a breath before he could speak, "I just wanted…"

"What do you want?" Kakashi whispered.

There were so many things that Iruka could say in response. The question alone had him spinning. There was lazy heat curling in his abdomen, awoken by the sound of Kakashi's voice, sending tiny shockwaves through him.

What had he wanted? He had been about to ask Kakashi something, he couldn't remember, it didn't seem important anymore.

Would Kakashi kill him if he asked for a kiss?

Kakashi looked away suddenly with a frown.

Oh god, Iruka hadn't said that out loud had he? He felt the warmth that had been washing through him turn to ice.

"What's that sound?" Kakashi asked.

Iruka shook his head and turned to follow the direction of Kakashi's gaze. He could hear a sound now, a light scratching.

Then a bark.

Then a voice.

"Kakashi!" the voice rasped angrily, "you're supposed to be in bed! When I get in there…"

Kakashi chuckled nervously and glanced at Iruka.

"That would be Pakkun," he said quietly, "I think I trained him too well."

Iruka had to shake himself. He felt slightly apart from the rest of the world, as though he had been dreaming, but he wasn't entirely sure if he had woken up yet.

"You…" Iruka frowned, anger and anxiety suddenly bubbling up inside him, "you're supposed to be in bed?"

Kakashi chuckled again, sounding even more nervous than before, and shrugged.

Iruka pinched the bridge of his nose and got up to let the yelling dog in.


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

It had stopped raining, but the pug on Iruka's doorstep looked like a drowned rodent of some kind. Iruka wouldn't have recognised the summon at all if he didn't already know that it was Pakkun glowering up at him.

"Oh my god, Pakkun," Iruka quickly stepped aside and allowed the dog to scurry into the warmth, "you're soaked! Would you like a towel or..."

As soon as Iruka had closed the door and turned back to the dog, Pakkun shook himself violently, sending a spray of cold, dirty water in all directions and drenching Iruka's feet.

Iruka frowned down at the puddle he suddenly found himself standing in, "uh... you couldn't have done that outside?"

He glanced back at the pug, and was taken aback by the heated glare Pakkun was aiming up at him. He was no longer dripping wet, he looked rather fluffy after his shake, but his eyes were narrowed dangerously up at Iruka and the chuunin had no idea what he could have done to deserve such an expression.

Before Iruka could ask, Pakkun whipped around and scurried across the floor towards the couch that Kakashi was seated upon.

Iruka still felt slightly off balance after being glared at by a pug. He wasn't really used to people being angry at him; he did his best not to be offensive or to upset anyone, but if he was going to be on the receiving end of someone's anger he at least wanted to know what he was supposed to have done to deserve it.

He ran over every encounter he had ever had with Pakkun in his mind as he followed the pug across the room, and he couldn't think of anything to deserve the angry glare Pakkun had given him.

"What?" Kakashi blinked down at Pakkun, full of mock innocence.

Pakkun leapt up onto the couch beside Kakashi and growled, "Sakura only discharged you because you promised to go home and rest."

Iruka frowned and looked from Pakkun to the jounin slouched in front of him, "Kakashi, is that true?"

Kakashi simply shifted uncomfortably in his seat and smiled up at Iruka, his eye curving cheerfully. Iruka emitted a soft growl of his own as he ran his hand over his face in exasperation.

As disappointed he would be to say goodbye to the jounin, it would be selfish of Iruka to let Kakashi stay if he was supposed to be at home recuperating. Kakashi might not be too concerned with his health, but Iruka was awash with sudden guilt when he remembered that Kakashi was recovering after saving Iruka's life. Again.

"Why can't I rest here?" Kakashi asked suddenly, drawing Iruka's attention.

"Because," Pakkun replied gruffly.

"Because what?" both Iruka and Kakashi asked at once. Kakashi had growled the question, but the words had slipped unbidden from Iruka's lips. Pakkun glared back up at Iruka as soon as he had spoken, but Iruka couldn't really find it in him to be bothered by the pug's scowl since Kakashi was smiling up at him happily.

Iruka didn't want Kakashi to go, and the jounin was right, he was perfectly comfortable on Iruka's couch. Iruka could watch him and make sure he didn't exert himself, and the walk back to Kakashi's apartment would probably do more harm than good if he was supposed to be resting.

Iruka nodded, having convinced himself, and smiled back at the jounin.

"Why don't I make some more tea?" Iruka asked cheerfully as he moved to pick up the cups from the coffee table, "Pakkun, would you like something to drink?"

The pug was looking back and forth between Kakashi and Iruka, seemingly lost for words. The scowl hadn't left his face, but he sighed in irritation and shook his head as Iruka waited for a reply.

"Coffee," the pug spat.

"Coffee?" Iruka blinked. Did dogs drink coffee?

"No," Kakashi frowned down at the pug beside him.

But Pakkun simply nodded at Iruka, ignoring Kakashi, "with a dash of cream and four sugars."

"No caffeine," Kakashi argued as he looked up at Iruka, "he'll have water and he'll like it."

"Says who?" Pakkun snapped as he bared his teeth.

"Says me," Kakashi huffed in response, and Iruka simply shook his head and wandered towards the kitchen, leaving the two to bicker on the couch.

oO0Oo

Jin was going to be the next Mizukage.

That was his dream. Had been his dream ever since the clan massacres and his family had barely escaped execution. To become the Mizukage and open up Hidden Mist to trade with other countries. He was going to change the training methods of the Academy and let the village take part in the chuunin exams with other hidden villages. He was going to review the conditions of the prisons and create a fund for the orphanage and give more power back to the council and _his blood was still drying on Shinichi's hands_.

It wasn't just Jin's blood anymore. Shinichi's blood was dripping from his fingertips. He was clutching Jin's hair so hard that the strands were slicing into his palm. There was nothing left of Jin's body, but his hair had remained, like a pool of liquid gold upon the ground. Shinichi hadn't been able to just leave it there, glimmering beautifully and _oh god what had he done_?

He had killed his best friend.

He felt hollow. There were only ashes where his heart had once been. The urge to take one of those glistening strands of hair, wrap it around his neck and just _pull_ was like an ache. He couldn't quite believe what he had done. He wanted to die. He deserved to die. Jin was dead and there was no one he could blame this time because it had been him, it had been Shinichi, it was his fault.

But he had done it because of _him_. That _fucking bastard_ who had taken Zabuza from him. If it wasn't for Hatake Kakashi then Shinichi would be at home; he wouldn't be a missing-nin; Zabuza wouldn't be dead; Jin wouldn't be dead, and while Shinichi was slowly dying on the inside that _bastard_ was going on with his life, laughing and living and falling in love and Shinichi _hated_ him like he hadn't known he could.

Shinichi wasn't hollow anymore. He was _burning_. There were poisonous flames burning his insides, making him want to scream.

He had to finish what he started, because it wasn't just about Zabuza any more. Jin was dead, and if Shinichi didn't get his revenge then he would have killed his best friend for nothing. He had killed his best friend and Kakashi was going to _pay_ with the blood of everyone he loved.

oO0Oo

Hanabi moved purposefully through the hospital, suppressing a self satisfied smirk. She had left Gai-sensei back in his room, enthusing the wonders of love, and really, she should be congratulated for her genius; everything was going exactly as she wanted.

She was so immersed in her own self congratulation that she didn't notice Akamaru. She froze in the centre of the waiting area, silently berating herself for not paying attention and waiting for the attack.

But Akamaru simply raised his head from Kiba's lap and gave her the most pathetic look imaginable.

Hanabi frowned. Not that she missed the slobber, Akamaru seemed to think that because Hanabi was Hinata's sister that she was perfectly lickable, but she was concerned now. Someone was obviously injured if Kiba was waiting in the hospital, and since Hinata was on his team...

Hanabi immediately shoved that thought out of her mind. Hinata was fine, because if she wasn't then the waiting room would be filled with Hyuugas rather than Inuzukas. But she wandered towards them anyway.

Only when she was beside Kiba did Akamaru strike. Hanabi glared at the dog but allowed the tongue to swipe over her cheek anyway. The dog had probably planned it: lured her over with his baleful look and then pounced; an inventive strategy so he deserved a lick or two.

"Hey shrimp," Kiba muttered by way of a greeting.

Hanabi's glare moved from Akamaru to his master.

"Is someone injured?" she asked as she petted Akamaru's head obligingly.

Kiba glanced across the waiting area to his mother. Hanabi followed his eyes and saw the woman sitting alone in the corner, glaring ferociously at the floor. Akamaru whined as he nuzzled Hanabi's hand.

It was the woman standing beside Kiba who replied, "Kuromaru was injured," she said, "the Hokage is trying to heal him."

"She's not a vet," Hanabi pointed out.

"No," the woman replied, "but she's his last hope."

"What are you doing here shrimp?" Kiba asked.

"Visiting," she replied, "I'm going now."

The woman standing beside Kiba frowned suddenly, staring at nothing, "Kiba," she said quietly, "the hunter-nin... did you notice if he had any injuries?"

Kiba shrugged, "no, why?"

The woman looked down at the dog at her heel, "because there was blood staining the neck of his uniform."

"So maybe he _was_ injured," Kiba mumbled, "who cares?"

Without another word, the woman strode around Hanabi and rushed out of the hospital, her dog chasing after her.

"I hope Kuromaru will be alright," Hanabi told Kiba. She could remember thinking that the dog reminded her of Kakashi-sensei a little, and the thought of the dog dying wasn't something she was comfortable with.

"Thanks shrimp," he replied.

"I'm not a shrimp," she informed him as she scratched Akamaru behind the ear one last time and turned to leave the hospital.

oO0Oo

Kakashi flexed his fingers and sighed as he dropped his head onto the back of the couch. He could feel Pakkun glaring daggers at him. He just wanted the pug to leave him alone, with Iruka, but he didn't have the energy to argue with Pakkun anymore.

"I know what's going on," Pakkun said suddenly.

Kakashi blinked and glanced down at the dog by his side, "indulge me; what's going on?"

"You and the schoolteacher," Pakkun replied with the narrowing of his eyes, "are you sure you know what you're doing?"

Kakashi rolled his eyes, "nothing is going on," he said as he flexed his fingers again. He couldn't really feel his hand anymore; his arm felt clumsy and heavy.

"Oh yeah?" Pakkun took a step closer to him, "then what are you doing here?"

"I came to get my clothes."

Pakkun was struck dumb for a moment, before he jumped onto Kakashi's lap and frowned up into his masked face.

"What the hell are your clothes doing here?" he demanded, "I thought you said that nothing was going on!"

Kakashi grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and picked him up, so that they could glare at one another at face level, "and people call _me_ a pervert!"

"What are you two arguing about?" the cups clinked softly onto the coffee table as Iruka placed them down.

Kakashi and Pakkun both turned to look at the chuunin as he dropped onto the couch beside Kakashi.

"Pakkun," Kakashi began as he gave the pug a quick shake, "seems to think that we're sleeping together because my clothes were here."

There was silence for all of five seconds before Iruka let out a small "oh."

Kakashi turned from Pakkun to Iruka and felt all of the air in the room heat up by a few degrees; Iruka was blushing furiously and staring at him with wide, almost nervous eyes.

"That's... that's..." Kakashi watched Iruka's Adam's apple move as he swallowed, "that's just ridiculous!"

Kakashi nodded, still enthralled by the flush to Iruka's cheeks, before he registered what the chuunin had said.

"Ridiculous," he repeated quietly, "...right."

His heart plummeted through the floor. He didn't have any right to feel disappointed, since he just wanted to be friends with Iruka, but it surprised him just how saddened he had become. It hadn't seemed ridiculous at all to him, but Iruka suddenly leapt up from the couch, laughing nervously and blushing even more as he backed away.

"Water..." he breathed hastily as he almost fell over the coffee table, "for Pakkun."

Iruka dashed towards the kitchen without waiting for a reply. Pakkun, still held up by the scruff of his neck, gave Kakashi an accusatory look.

"I'm not fooled for an instant!" the pug snapped.

"Shut up Pakkun," Kakashi sighed in defeat and dropped the pug back onto his lap.

He felt weary all of a sudden, and a little foolish.

_Ridiculous_. Kakashi felt ridiculous: for feeling how he felt; for coming to Iruka's house just because he wanted to see him; for the way his heart tried to beat its way out of his chest whenever Iruka smiled at him. He looked around Iruka's house, at the pictures on the walls and the multitude of get well cards that were dotted all over the place from all of the people who were worried about Iruka after the incident with the Sound ninja. Iruka's house was colourful and cosy and full of affection from so many people: drawings and cards and droopy wild flowers that one of his students had picked for him no doubt. And it really _was_ ridiculous, because Iruka could have anyone he wanted so why would he want someone like Kakashi?

He wouldn't.

"We're leaving," Kakashi said softly.

Pakkun blinked in surprise, "we are?"

Kakashi nodded and moved to stand up, but Pakkun moved first and planted his front paws onto Kakashi's chest to keep him sitting down.

"I thought you wanted to stay?" Pakkun argued. He sounded confused and concerned, but he had been the one who wanted Kakashi to go home so Kakashi had no idea why he was arguing about it now.

"I changed my mind," Kakashi replied. He wanted to go home, climb into bed and _hide_.

Pakkun's eyes had gone wide, "is this because of what he said just now? Because Kakashi, I gotta tell you, he was..."

"Just _shut up_," Kakashi almost begged as he grabbed the pug and rose to his feet, "we're going home."

oO0Oo

Iruka leant against the wall in the kitchen and just breathed. Then he breathed some more. Then he slammed the back of his head into the wall.

"_Pakkun seems to think that we're sleeping together because my clothes were here."_ He had just said it; the words had slid from his mouth with perfect ease, as though it was the most outrageous thing he had ever heard, not worth giving serious thought. Iruka had shrunk a little on the inside, because of course it would seem outrageous to Kakashi, the Copy-nin, Master of a Thousand Jutsu, star of wet dreams and completely and utterly straight Hatake Kakashi. Completely outrageous.

But Iruka wanted nothing more than to kiss Kakashi. To wrap himself up in the jounin. Kakashi always made him feel important, like he was needed, like he was more than just a schoolteacher, but right then Iruka felt so utterly unworthy that he wanted to shrivel up. If Kakashi knew that just being near him made it difficult for Iruka to breathe then the jounin would probably laugh himself hoarse and then avoid Iruka for the rest of his life.

Iruka shook himself. He wasn't going to feel sorry for himself, because he had always known that he wouldn't stand a chance. But having that fact pointed out to him like that had made his throat close up. With a determined sigh he moved towards the cupboards and rifled through them for a bowl of some sort.

When he wandered back into the main room, holding a bowl of water for Pakkun and wearing a smile, Kakashi was standing up and holding Pakkun under one arm.

Iruka faltered across the room from the jounin and the smile slipped from his face.

Kakashi frowned and avoided Iruka's eyes, "thank you for the tea Iruka-sensei, but we'd better be going now."

Something inside Iruka fell apart. When had he gone back to being Iruka-_sensei_? What had he done?

"You... you are?" Iruka gripped the bowl in his hands tighter.

"Pakkun's right," Kakashi said in a flat, emotionless voice, "I should be resting. I'm sorry for bothering you."

Iruka was shaking his head, because Kakashi hadn't been bothering him, and he could rest right here, and he didn't want Kakashi to leave. But Kakashi had already started to stride across the room.

He didn't know what to say. He didn't know what had changed during the minutes that he had been in the kitchen, but Kakashi strode past him without even a glance. Iruka sloshed some water out of the bowl he was holding as he turned to watch the jounin leave.

When Kakashi paused near the door, hope lit up inside Iruka like a torch. He smiled tentatively as Kakashi turned back to face him.

"My clothes," Kakashi said.

Iruka's smile wavered before vanishing completely. He nodded and stepped back into the kitchen to fetch Kakashi's uniform, and he paused in front of the fridge to glance at the picture of Team 7 pinned there.

He didn't know what he had done, but he must have done something. Kakashi had been adamant that he wanted to stay only minutes ago, but now...

Kakashi murmured his thanks as he took the clothes from Iruka, and opened the door.

"Bye," Iruka called.

The door clicked softly shut.

oO0Oo

He had hooked the braid to his belt. He hadn't realised how heavy Jin's hair was, it was a painful weight upon his hip, dragging him down, reminding him of what he had done.

Jin had hated his hair when he was younger. He was constantly being mistaken for a girl when he was a child. The first time Shinichi had met him he had assumed that he was a girl too. Jin had been skinny and small, with long flowing hair and the biggest blue eyes that Shinichi had ever seen. He had been horrified at first, because their sensei was a woman too, so that made Shinichi the only boy on the team and he was sure that Zabuza would never let him live it down.

He couldn't remember what he had said. Something insulting, something to make the silly little blonde piece of fluff cry. But then the little blonde piece of fluff had proceeded to beat him into the ground, and Shinichi had wanted the girl to kill him because if Zabuza found out that he had been beaten up by a _girl_ then he was dead anyway.

Then their sensei, a woman so eerily frightening that even the Mizukage stood up when she entered a room, had arrived to find them rolling around over the ground trying to rip one another apart. They had stopped fighting when she had wrapped her hands around their necks, the metal of the claws that she wore on her hands tickling over their skin, and she had said, "if you boys can't get along, I'll skin you alive, sew you're hides together and wear you on rainy days. Okay?"

Shinichi's eyes had very nearly fallen out of his head when he realised that their sensei had referred to the little blonde piece of fluff as a _boy_.

Jin had started to wear his hair in a braid shortly after that. He had turned around too quickly and too close to their third teammate on their first real mission. Narumi had ended up with three thin scars cutting through her cheek, and even though Narumi forgave him, Jin never forgave himself. He never took his hair out of his braid after that, only on the battlefield.

Shinichi's hand found its way to the braid attached to his belt. He _hurt_. He was carrying his sins upon his hip and the weight was painful.

He stopped when he felt someone approach him. He hadn't put Jin's mask back on, and he didn't care who saw him now. If Kakashi himself appeared through the bushes then Shinichi would tear into him, he didn't care about surviving any more. He was already dead. What was left of him was just waiting to die.

The dog emerged first, muddy brown and growling. Shinichi recognised it from earlier, the way it had inspected Jin's body, identifying the scent it had been following.

Shinichi glared at it. He unhooked the braid from his belt and let it fall heavily to the ground, clasping the end in his hand hard enough to make him bleed.

The woman emerged next. She was holding a kunai in each hand and her eyes drank in the sight of Shinichi suspiciously.

"What are you still doing here?" she asked.

Shinichi didn't reply. He needed to get back into Konoha, he didn't have any patience left.

"You're target," the woman said as her eyes came to rest upon the collar of Shinichi's clothes, "how did you kill him?"

Shinichi gripped the braid tighter. He didn't need to be reminded of what he had done. He couldn't forget.

"You stabbed him didn't you?" she said, her eyes moving from Shinichi's neck to his face, "in the throat?"

Shinichi stepped forwards. She had realised that he had changed clothes with Jin to confuse the dogs. But it didn't matter.

He swung the braid at the dog first. The mutt dived out of the way but the ground quaked slightly with the force of the swing when the braid hit the forest floor. Leaves danced upwards from the ground and then Shinichi was behind the kunoichi before she had the time to realise. She spun around as Shinichi swung the braid again, and raised her arm to block the impending blow. But the braid crunched into her arm, breaking the bone, and slammed into her head with a wet crunch. She hit the floor heavily, and the dog was keening pitifully before Shinichi picked up her kunai. Silence fell over them once Shinichi had thrown the weapon. The dog lay bleeding next to its master. Both of them dead.

Shinichi felt nothing. But the braid seemed heavier.

oO0Oo

Kakashi dropped Pakkun as soon as they were outside, and began to trudge home. He felt a little ill. He had been an idiot to think, even for a moment, that he could have a place in Iruka's life. Iruka was perfect, he was kind and smart and adored by everyone, and Kakashi was just Kakashi. He couldn't even hope to be good enough for Iruka.

It was _ridiculous_.

"Are all humans as dense as you?" Pakkun barked as he hurried to keep up.

"Can't you just leave me alone?" Kakashi muttered. He stepped over a puddle and frowned down at the ground as he walked. He should never have listened to Gai. It was a mistake to want Iruka in his life. Kakashi had known that he would only end up getting hurt. He was hurting now and Iruka hadn't even done anything.

"Slow down for crying out..." Pakkun growled in irritation, "he likes you!"

Kakashi's frown deepened. The stupid animal had no idea what he was talking about. Iruka liked everyone, but he didn't like Kakashi the way Kakashi wanted him to and it was agonising.

"Stupid..." Pakkun muttered to himself as he sprinted to catch up to Kakashi, "did you hear me? He likes you!"

"Shut up Pakkun."

"I have some misgivings about this whole thing you know," Pakkun huffed, "you have a lot of enemies and he's just a chuunin so..."

"He's not _just_ a chuunin!" Kakashi spat, "don't underestimate him."

Pakkun blinked up at Kakashi and shook his head, "it'll end in tears."

"It already has!" Kakashi came to a halt and glared down at the pug, "would you just forget about it already? There is nothing going on between me and Iruka, nothing!"

When Kakashi started walking again Pakkun remained rooted to the spot.

"For a genius you can be a real dunce sometimes!" Pakkun yelled, "he's interested in you, you moron! Even without a heightened sense of smell I could have figured it out!"

Kakashi stopped and turned back to him, "what?"

"He likes you," Pakkun said, slowly, as though talking to a particularly stupid child, "_likes_... as in wants to hump you senseless. Am I getting through to you?"

"You don't know what you talking abou..." Kakashi frowned, he was gazing over Pakkun, further down the street to the solitary figure wandering through the puddles.

"It's amazing that you people manage to breed at all," Pakkun continued, "dogs don't do all of this tiptoeing around like you lot do. We just say 'hey, wanna mate' and then there's a 'yes' or a 'no' and..."

Kakashi strode past Pakkun and rushed down the street towards Tsume, who had fallen to her knees in a puddle, and Kakashi couldn't be sure from this distance, but it looked like she was crying.

All thoughts of Iruka flew straight out of his head when he stopped just a few feet away from Tsume, and the sounds of her sobs were as clear as bells. He had never seen her cry before, Inuzuka Tsume had probably never cried before in her life. Kakashi felt completely helpless as he listened to her.

For a moment he thought something had happened to her children. To Kiba or Hana because there was no other reason he could think of that would crush Tsume's composure. But then Kiba and Hana raced around the corner and froze when they saw their mother, and Kakashi knew then who her tears were for, because Akamaru was behind Kiba, and the three Haimaru siblings were flanking Hana, but Kuromaru was nowhere to be seen.

He suddenly remembered what had passed though his mind when he had seen Bull drowning in the river, and his heart ceased beating for a moment. Pakkun had caught up and was looking up at Kakashi in utter horror when he realised what must have happened.

Kakashi glanced at Hana and Kiba, and then moved forwards and placed his hand on Tsume's shoulder.

But she just cried harder.

ooo0O0O0ooo

Iruka-sensei would have made a good Hyuuga. He had eyes in the back of his head. Hanabi watched him watching them and pondered her strategy. If she couldn't sneak away then all of her careful planning would be for nothing. She had a plan, she had let Gai in on it last night and it would work if only she could distract Iruka-sensei.

"Konohamaru!" she yelled from her seat on the bench. Lunch would be over soon and she needed to act _now_.

Konohamaru skidded to a halt and frowned across the yard towards her, "yeah?"

"Is it true that Uzumaki Naruto was kicked out of the village for being a total screw up and driving the Uchiha away?"

Konohamaru turned _purple_, "WHAT?"

Hanabi straightened up as Konohamaru marched towards her, with violence flashing in his eyes and his hands balled into fists. She really didn't want to have to hurt him so she quickly amended her question, "because that's what Hiroshi's been telling everyone."

And suddenly Konohamaru did a u-turn and stomped across the yard towards Hiroshi, aiming all of his anger towards the poor innocent boy.

As soon as the chaos began and the first punch was thrown, Iruka-sensei flashed across towards the fight, and Hanabi slinked back into the academy.

She needed to be quick. They had kunai practice after lunch so Iruka wouldn't notice it was missing until everyone had gone home, but she needed to be back outside before Iruka-sensei noticed she was gone.

She hurried silently into the classroom and knelt behind Iruka-sensei's desk.

The drawer was locked. But she had been expecting that. She slid the senbon from up her sleeve and set to work picking the lock.

oO0Oo

Kakashi grabbed his mask and pulled it over his head as he staggered towards the door. Pakkun made a sleepy noise and rolled over in into the warm patch Kakashi had left in the bed, and Kakashi opened the door.

"Good morning my Eternal Rival!"

Kakashi screwed his eyes shut and groaned, "what do you want?"

"It is a beautiful day Kakashi," Gai beamed, "you should be out enjoying it rather than hiding away in..."

"Gai," Kakashi blinked at him suspiciously, "why aren't you in hospital?"

Gai beamed, "I was discharged this morning," he boomed, "with strict orders to rest."

"Then why aren't you resting?" Kakashi asked.

"Because, my Eternal Rival," Gai planted his hands on his hips, "it has been too long since our last challenge! I have decided that we..."

"No," Kakashi shook his head, "you're supposed to be resting."

Pakkun 'hmphed' pointedly.

"I realise what steps I must undertake to ensure my full and speedy recovery Kakashi," Gai pointed out, "this challenge will not involve anything strenuous, I assure you. I know that you are still recovering also."

"Gai..."

"I have missed our challenges my Eternal Rival," Gai had stopped smiling, he was looking at Kakashi pleadingly, and for some reason Kakashi couldn't find it in him to refuse.

Gai had almost died. He wouldn't refuse him anything.

"...fine."

Gai's beaming grin returned, "meet me in the public park in three hours, beneath the bridge."

Kakashi nodded and went to close the door.

"Do not be late my Eternal Rival!" Gai warned as he turned to leave, "or I will simply have to come and fetch you!"

Kakashi sighed as the door clicked shut.

"The funeral's later," Pakkun said quietly.

Kakashi looked over at the pug, "I forgot," he whispered. It felt like a shadow had fallen over him.

He could just barely remember Kuromaru as a puppy. He'd been tiny. The first time Kakashi had tried to stroke him he had bitten Kakashi's finger.

Kakashi sat down on the end of the bed, and wondered if Kuromaru would be alive if he had joined in the search along with them.

"There's nothing you could have done," Pakkun said, as though reading his mind.

Kakashi hummed noncommittally and sprawled back across the bed. He had three hours. He didn't need to be ready for four.

oO0Oo

Iruka watched Konohamaru warily as the boy cleaned the windows. Hiroshi was on the other side of the classroom, scraping gum from the underside of the desks, and occasionally the two boys would turn to cast one another scathing looks.

He had no idea what they had been fighting about, both of them had remained perfectly silent when he had asked them. He would find out eventually. But until one of them cracked, they would be cleaning the classroom until it sparkled.

"Right," Iruka stood up and levelled the boys with a glare, "that's enough for today, but you'll continue where you left off after class tomorrow."

"But..."

"No buts Konohamaru," Iruka warned, "now get going."

Konohamaru threw the rag he had been using to the floor and marched across the classroom, glowering at Hiroshi as he went.

Iruka rubbed circles into his temples before he reached down to the drawer in his desk and pulled it open.

After almost ten minutes of pulling the desk apart he sat up and fumed.

"_Konohamaru_."

oO0Oo

Hanabi watched Konohamaru race off down the street, momentarily followed by Hiroshi at a slower pace, and then she waited. Iruka-sensei would emerge in a matter of minutes and she could only hope that he had checked his desk drawer.

She pushed away from the wall when she saw him emerge, and tried to look as though she was just passing by.

"Hello Iruka-sensei," she greeted.

"Hanabi," Iruka nodded as he looked around the street, "I don't suppose you've seen Konohamaru?"

Hanabi laughed manically on the inside.

"Why Iruka-sensei?"

"Um... I think he's taken something..."

"You mean a red file?" she asked, blinking up at him innocently.

"Yes!" Iruka looked down at her, "which way did he go?"

"Moegi was out here waiting for him," she replied, "he told her to find Udon and meet him under the bridge in the public park."

Iruka-sensei's eyes narrowed, "right. Thank you Hanabi."

Hanabi watched him race off, and smirked to herself gleefully.

oO0Oo

Shinichi watched the ANBU sentry from his hiding place in the trees. He felt surprisingly calm. Like the ocean after a storm. His mind was empty of everything, he felt like he didn't really exist.

The braid attached to his belt had been getting steadily heavier. He knew it was all in his head. Jin wasn't there, tugging on the braid and slowing him down. It was his imagination.

But he was still determined not to use the hair again.

He was tired of waiting. He wanted it to be over so that he could lie down and just die. He had nothing to return to, nothing else to live for, he just wanted to stop and forget everything that had happened.

But he couldn't forget, because Zabuza was like a poisonous cancer consuming him, and Jin was dragging him down, heavy and cold. He needed to finish this and then close his eyes and make everything stop.

His revenge was killing him.

He leapt from the branch and passed unseen into Konoha. He needed to gather the weapons he had left in the teahouse, and change into fresh clothes. He needed to wash Jin's blood off him before the red became ingrained in his skin.

oO0Oo

When they reached the corner of the high-street Pakkun stopped. Kakashi turned back to the pug, who was looking at the street that veered off from the one that led to the park.

"We'll be late," he said simply.

"I'll catch you up," Kakashi told him, "I want to let Gai know about the funeral."

Pakkun looked torn for a moment, before he nodded, "hurry up."

Kakashi turned away and continued on his way to the public park. The funeral would be at sunset, and the horizon was already beginning to glow slightly. But he didn't want to leave Gai hanging. At one time he wouldn't have cared. But the thought of leaving Gai to wait for him was abhorrent now.

Stupid fool had to go and almost die.

He picked up his pace as the trees of the park came into view. The bridge was in the centre, it rose over the small stream that trickled through the middle of the park.

He couldn't stop berating himself for not joining in the search for the missing-nin that had killed Kuromaru. He knew that the hunter-nin had killed his target, Kiba had informed him the previous night, after Kakashi had carried Tsume home and asked for the details.

They hadn't been able to figure out what sort of jutsu had killed him. He had been riddled with holes. Literally. Tiny wounds that had bled him dry. Smaller than the circumference of a senbon, but the sheer number of them had killed him.

If it had been one of _his_ dogs... he didn't even know what he would have done. He felt sick with guilt; for not being friendlier to Kuromaru; for not being there to help him. He had known Tsume almost all of his life, but he hadn't taken the time to get to know Kuromaru properly. He had been so concerned with pushing everyone away, now that he had started letting people in he was beginning to see all of the missed opportunities that he had let slip him by.

He made it to the bridge without realising it. He stopped abruptly in the middle of the bridge and frowned.

He couldn't sense Gai's presence. But he knew who the person beneath the bridge was immediately.

For a blinding minute, he wanted to run away. The events of the previous day came rushing back to him and he felt himself crack a little more. All of his emotions were chipping away at him, he couldn't deal with facing Iruka, and the rejection that he was afraid of, with Kuromaru's death right there in the forefront of his mind.

But he recalled what Pakkun had told him. That Iruka liked him. And no matter how he tried to squash it, there was a tiny flicker of desperate hope in his chest.

He didn't want to lose any more people. Even if Pakkun was right it didn't matter. Kakashi couldn't let himself fall for Iruka because if he lost him he wouldn't survive.

But he would die if he lost Iruka anyway, even if his feelings weren't returned. So what did he have to lose?

oO0Oo

Iruka kicked at a loose stone. He was standing in the stream, it was shallow enough to ignore, just a trickle of water over the stones. He had been confused when he had arrived to find the place deserted. Konohamaru was nowhere to be found, and neither was the file with the answers to the next test he was planning to give his class. He really didn't want to have to devise a new test.

Just as he went to kick another stone, he fell completely still.

There was someone behind him.

He turned around in the blink of an eye, and turned to stone when he saw Kakashi.

His heart gave one massive thud before it seemed to die in his chest. What was Kakashi doing here? But Iruka didn't care about the answer to that question; he had been petrified that Kakashi would avoid him from now one, that their tentative friendship was at an end. Seeing Kakashi was enough to make him giddy. He almost laughed.

But the jounin was standing perfectly still, watching him warily, and all of the laughter in Iruka died. Kakashi had to have realised that Iruka had feelings for him, he was probably going to tell Iruka to leave him alone from now on. The mere thought was suffocating.

"Kakashi," he breathed, "what... what are you doing here?"

"I'm supposed to be meeting Gai here," Kakashi replied. He wasn't giving anything away in his tone of voice. He might as well have been giving a report, he sounded as emotionless as rock.

Then Kakashi took a single step closer, and if there wasn't an ounce of emotion in his voice then there was a world of it in his eye. Iruka very nearly gasped because he looked like he was _dying_. He seemed so desperate and sad and the sheer amount of longing in that single eye rooted Iruka to the spot. But he had no idea what Kakashi was longing for, whatever it was Iruka would give it to him if he could, but Kakashi had fallen silent.

"Are... are you alright Kakashi?" he asked, moving towards the jounin.

Kakashi shifted his gaze to the trickle of water beneath his feet. He was frowning as though he was suffering and Iruka didn't know what to do with himself.

"Kuromaru's dead."

Iruka blinked, and then staggered back a step in shock.

"He... what?"

Kakashi didn't look at him, but his frown deepened.

"He was killed yesterday," he said, "the funeral is tonight."

Iruka felt his insides freeze. He hadn't known Kuromaru well, but the sudden knowledge of the animal's death was like a blade to the gut. His thoughts immediately went to Tsume and his chest hurt.

But now he knew why Kakashi looked so heartbroken. But knowing didn't help him, he still didn't know what to say. He hadn't realised that Kakashi was close to Kuromaru, he had nothing comforting to offer the jounin.

Kakashi looked back up at Iruka and breathed in deeply, as though to steady himself.

"Iruka..."

"Yes?" Iruka took another step closer to Kakashi, desperately eager to do _something_ for him.

He saw Kakashi swallow, "close your eyes."

Iruka frowned slightly, but he only hesitated for a split second before he did as the jounin asked. In the darkness behind his eyelids he allowed himself a sliver of nervousness, but he knew that Kakashi wouldn't do anything to hurt him, he trusted Kakashi as much as he trusted anyone. More than that, he trusted Kakashi with his life.

He felt Kakashi move closer to him, and his nervousness seeped though him with more force, but he kept his eyes firmly closed.

The first hesitant press of lips against his own was his complete undoing.

oO0Oo

Hanabi never gave herself away. She was perfectly in control, completely unreadable. She had her poker face perfected. She never let people know what she was thinking or feeling unless it served some purpose for her. Shinobi should keep their emotions firmly on the inside, never revealing anything. She was a marble statue at all times.

She leapt out of her seat and 'whooped'! She couldn't stop laughing, and everyone in the teahouse was looking at her as though she had grown an extra head but she didn't give a shit because they were KISSING!

They were just on the edge of her vision; she had chosen the spot so that she could watch them from the teahouse. She didn't want them to know that she was watching, for obvious reasons, and Iruka-sensei had eyes in the back of his head, and Kakashi-sensei had the uncanny ability of knowing when he was being watched. But she was far enough away that they hadn't realised and they were kissing and Hanabi jumped onto her chair and proceeded to cheer for all she was worth.

It had been the perfect plan. She was a genius. Everything had worked out perfectly. She should be appointed Hokage simply for being brilliant.

She tried to settle herself down when the staring ceased to stop. She got as far as stepping down off the seat before she looked back at them.

They were still kissing.

She laughed and proceeded to dance in a circle. Everyone probably thought that she was insane.

She fell silent and went very still. In her dancing she had glimpsed up.

He was on the roof.

She stopped breathing. She could see him, the missing-nin, on the roof of the teahouse. He was right there.

She stepped backwards, moving around the table, not taking her eyes off him. She needed to tell someone, quickly.

She started breathing again and turned around to race out onto the street. She needed to tell someone and the closest jounin to her position was Kakashi-sensei.

She started running.

oO0Oo

Kakashi was terrified. He had never been more afraid in his entire life. Not while fighting for his life, not while fighting for someone else's life, not while fighting S-class criminals or standing in the middle of a bloody battlefield. When he touched his lips to Iruka's he had never been so scared before, and when Iruka went completely still he died a little.

Just as he had been about to pull away and run like he never had before, Iruka _moaned _into the kiss, and slanted his lips more firmly against Kakashi's. Then Kakashi had ceased to exist, because the entire _world_ was Iruka.

His entire body flared with heat when Iruka stepped into him, as though he wanted to press himself right into Kakashi. Iruka parted his lips and Kakashi was drowning in Iruka, nothing else existed.

But they weren't close enough. Kakashi's hands found their way to Iruka's hips and he pulled the chuunin closer; if he could merge them into one single person then he would, he wanted to vanish inside Iruka and never emerge.

Iruka was clutching at him, as though Kakashi was the only thing keeping Iruka anchored to the world. His hand had trailed around to the back of Kakashi's neck and was preventing him from moving away, but Kakashi wouldn't move if his life depended upon it. Iruka's tongue delved into his mouth and the movement of the chuunin's lips crushing into his was sending shockwaves through Kakashi's bones, his entire body felt raw and hot.

He dragged his hands over Iruka's back and tried to deepen the kiss even more.

oO0Oo

Shinichi watched the sun lower over the horizon for a few more minutes. The sky looked like it was burning. It might have been beautiful, but Shinichi couldn't see the beauty in anything. He just felt cold.

He turned away from the view and slid across the rooftop so that he could slip in through the window of his room and gather his things. He stopped at the edge and frowned down over the public park.

He didn't recognise the girl at first. He had simply marvelled at how fast her legs were moving beneath her, they were a blur. But when she turned to glance over her shoulder, and looked straight up at Shinichi, his heart stopped.

It was the Hyuuga who had seen him back in the forest. She had looked straight at him. She knew he was there.

"Shit," he hissed. He couldn't be discovered yet. Not yet. Just a little while longer, he just needed a little more time. He wouldn't be able to fool any of the shinobi that came after him a second time, they would be more careful.

His fingers moved swiftly through the seals. He had to stop her before she told anyone that he was alive.

oO0Oo

Kakashi was kissing him. It wasn't possible, he had to be dead. He daren't open his eyes in case it wasn't happening. Kakashi was kissing him and Iruka was sure that his imagination couldn't come up with something like this.

Kakashi was hot and hard and pressed against him so intimately that Iruka was reeling. The ground had crumbled from beneath his feet, he was floating and if he let go of Kakashi then he would float away. He sucked Kakashi's tongue into his mouth possessively and shuddered when Kakashi groaned.

There were too many clothes, too much padding. He wanted to get at Kakashi's _skin_. He went weak when Kakashi ground their hips together. He felt dizzy; he wasn't the only one who was hard and shaking and Iruka could quite happily die like this, with Kakashi's tongue in his mouth and his erection pressing into him.

He tangled his fingers in the soft hair at the base of Kakashi's skull and arched into him. He didn't want it to end. He wanted to spend the rest of his life kissing Kakashi.

oO0Oo

It was raining. Hanabi looked up as she ran, and felt panic begin to bubble up inside her when she saw the chakra gathering in the raindrops. She didn't know what that chakra meant, but she knew, with terrifying certainty, that she couldn't let any of those raindrops fall upon her.

But she couldn't outrun the rain. The first droplet landed on her cheek, and she gasped, startled, when nothing happened. But the second droplet hit her with more force, driving into her shoulder. The third stabbed into her hand. The fourth drew blood when it hit her thigh.

"Iruka-sensei!" she yelled. She closed her eyes against the rain and ran faster.

She stumbled when the next raindrop went all the way through her chest.

oO0Oo

When Kakashi finally pulled away, Iruka was gasping for air. He was thrumming, turned into nothing but liquid heat by Kakashi's lips and hands and the pressure of his body against Iruka's.

He almost opened his eyes, but then he remembered that Kakashi had asked him to close them, so he caught his breath in the darkness and shivered in the sudden cold that he found himself in without the heat of Kakashi's body against him.

"Iruka," Kakashi breathed, and Iruka huffed a soft laugh when he heard that Kakashi was just as breathless as he was, "open your eyes."

Iruka blinked his eyes into focus and gasped. Kakashi hadn't pulled his mask up, Iruka was looking at his face, his bare face.

_Oh fuck_ why would anyone hide something like that?

The sun was behind the trees, and beneath the bridge the shadows blanketed everything, but even in the shade it was as clear as day that Kakashi was stunning, and Iruka couldn't take his eyes away because after a sight like that he would surely go blind.

"It's raining," Iruka watched _Kakashi's lips_ move around the words and he heard himself release a shaky sigh.

Kakashi pulled his mask up and the spell was broken, Iruka blinked and he felt so incredibly unsteady. He wanted to mourn the loss of Kakashi's face, he wanted to grab that hideous mask and rip it away.

But Kakashi was frowning past him, out towards where the rain was falling with a deep frown.

"Iruka-sensei!"

Iruka jerked. That was Hanabi and she had _screamed_ for him.

He rushed out into the rain and looked around, and his heart was suddenly in his mouth because Hanabi was across the grass, curled up into a ball and screaming, but he couldn't see anything that might pull screams like that from the girl's throat, there was nothing but the grass and the rain.

"Get back under the bridge!" Kakashi yelled at him as he ran out from the shelter that the bridge provided.

"What?" Iruka took a step to follow him, but Kakashi pointed at him and _glared_.

"Iruka! Get back under the bridge!"

Iruka froze, confused and terrified because Hanabi was still screaming and he didn't know what to do.

He watched Kakashi run through the rain and then saw him jerk to a halt, and Iruka wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't been looking so carefully.

He saw a raindrop run straight through Kakashi's hand, spraying his blood over the grass.

Hanabi's screams were getting quieter, turning into sobs, as the rain continued to fall on her.

oO0Oo

Kakashi hissed in pain and looked at his hand. It was the _rain_, the Sharingan could see the chakra glowing in the droplets.

It was the _rain_ that had killed Kuromaru.

Hanabi was whimpering only meters from him, but he'd be sliced down in seconds if he tried to run through the downpour to get to her.

In a swirl of smoke he had transported himself to stand over Hanabi and his breath was stolen as blood sprayed out of him.

He dropped himself over Hanabi, shielding her from the rain. She had fallen completely silent now, he couldn't tell if she was breathing. He could feel each raindrop slice straight through him and into her.

He shoved his arms beneath the unconscious girl as he drenched her in his blood. He squeezed his eyes shut, and a moment later there was smoke everywhere.

He collapsed with Hanabi held against his chest, staring up at the nurses' station at the hospital before everything went black.


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen**

Shinichi's entire body was shocked into stillness. He was still staring at the place the girl had fallen, replaying the last few moments over and over in his mind. He hadn't been able to comprehend that it had been the Copy-nin who had come to her rescue until they had vanished. He still could barely believe what he had seen.

There was a small part of his mind, the focused, analytical part that soaked up each and every detail, which was focused upon the moment that Kakashi had pointed behind him, to something or _someone_ beneath the bridge, just out of Shinichi's line of sight.

It was still raining, but it was harmless rain now, just water rather than a weapon. Shinichi was soaked to the skin, his hair was heavy with water and was sticking to the sides of his face. He was just beginning to realise that he had had Sharingan Kakashi within his grasp, beneath the rain of his jutsu along with the Hyuuga girl. For a blindingly wonderful moment, he had won. He could have killed Kakashi and finally been free. But it had only been a moment, and Kakashi had slipped through his fingers like sand.

Rather than get angry, he drew his eyes to the bridge, hidden partially behind the trees. Jin's mask was attached to his belt, beside the metallic hank of hair looped around itself at his hip. Rather than think about how close he had come to killing the Copy-nin, he thought of what the Copy-nin might have left behind, alone and unprotected beneath the bridge, as he slid Jin's mask over his face and crawled soundlessly towards the edge of the roof.

oO0Oo

Iruka's heart was ramming against the inside of his chest, as though it wanted to escape and race out into the rain to find Kakashi and Hanabi. The moment he had seen Kakashi jutsu them away he had rushed back into the shelter that the bridge provided, but he didn't know where they were, if they were alive, or who had attacked Hanabi. He didn't know if the danger had passed and he was safe to venture out into the open, but each second he remained standing still his heart thumped harder.

He didn't want to wait for the rain to stop. He couldn't simply stand there when he didn't know if Hanabi was dead or alive. He needed to make sure that Kakashi was alright, that Hanabi was safe, but he had seen what the rain could do when he saw one of the raindrops slice through Kakashi's hand. He felt trapped and alone.

He carefully reached out and held his hand beneath the rainwater, feeling the cold spray splash into his palm and pour down his wrist. It was just rain now, or so it seemed, so with a shuddering breath Iruka stepped out from the shelter of the bridge and into the downpour.

He had taken three steps into the open when he felt it: a dizzying wave of killing intent that almost caused him to stumble. For a frightening moment he couldn't move. His breath had frozen in his chest, tightening around his heart like tendrils of ice. There was a second of clarity, when he realised that there was someone behind him, and that he was completely alone and unprotected from the rain, before he chanced a glance over his shoulder and through the tunnel of the bridge, towards the hunter-nin standing in the rain on the other side, watching him through the narrow slits in his mask.

If Iruka was given time to think, he would falter, he knew he would. He was always apprehensive in battle, afraid of hurting someone, even an enemy, because enemies are usually only men following orders. But Iruka didn't give himself time for any thoughts other than the image of Hanabi huddled in the grass and crying for her teacher. The memory of the girl's whimpering sobs and the flash of red he had seen staining her clothes knocked Iruka out of any hesitation he might have had.

In a single movement, Iruka had leapt up onto the bridge. He knew, beyond any doubt, that the hunter-nin was the one who had tried to kill Hanabi, and with a start Iruka realised that he had to be the ninja Hanabi had seen in the forest, that he had tried to drown one of Kakashi's dogs.

It was with the image of Kakashi sitting at his table, clenching his fists in anger when he told Iruka about how his dog had almost died, that Iruka unsheathed a kunai and dropped off the opposite side of the bridge, coming to land directly beside the hunter-nin. He hadn't forgotten that the rain could be a threat, but he had seen how the rain moved around its target, in lancing circles whipping around its victim, like a cyclone. There was no way the hunter-nin could attack Iruka with that jutsu if they were fighting in close combat, they would both be killed, so Iruka lunged for the hunter-nin, still half blinded by fear for Hanabi and anger at the man before him for almost killing her.

Almost. He had to believe that she wasn't dead.

oO0Oo

It was pure reflex that got Shinichi out of the way of what would have been a killing blow. He had thought that the schoolteacher would flee, that he would have to give chase. He hadn't been expecting the man to leap off the bridge and land almost directly on top of him, swiping a kunai directly towards Shinichi's throat.

He had to be more exhausted than he thought. The Mizukage's jutsu had taken a lot out of him but he should still be able to keep up with a chuunin. Yet he found himself on the defensive before he really knew what was happening. Umino Iruka was keeping up with him step for step, armed with only a kunai and a furious glint in his eyes that passed doubt through Shinichi's gut.

He had left his weapons back in the teahouse, he had nothing to defend himself with and the sudden realisation that he didn't have the upper hand after all was like ice in his veins. He hadn't thought his next move out at all, he had been so blinded by the need for revenge, so impatient to finish what Sharingan Kakashi had started by killing his brother, that he had rushed in like a fool and was swiftly losing ground.

He barely managed to jump out of the way of the chuunin's leg as it swept the ground to knock him down. The weight at his hip was making it difficult to move as fast as he usually could, and that was when it hit him that he still had one weapon left at his disposal.

He reached down to unhook Jin's braid from his belt when the schoolteacher sliced his kunai through the air again, but this time Shinichi wasn't able to dodge completely. The blade cut into his forearm, knocking his hand away from the braid and sending bolts of pain through his arm.

He saw the fist coming for his face, but even though time seemed to have slowed down, he knew he wouldn't be able to move in time to block it.

His mask hit the ground before he did. The metallic taste of blood filled his mouth as his hands sank into the mud. He could hear his pulse hammering in his ears as he knelt on his hands and knees, water pouring down his face.

There was a horrifying moment when Shinichi tried to laugh and cry at the same time. The sound that was torn from his throat was almost a sob, almost a bark of laughter, and it hurt to hear. He was going to die here, with Jin's mask staring up at him, blank eyed, and Jin's hair trying to drag him down into the mud. He was about to die, bleeding and muddy and wet, with his hair dripping, and for some unfathomable reason he couldn't find it in him to care. Nothing mattered anymore any way.

He just wanted, one last time, he _longed_ to feel a rough hand fist in the wet tangles of his hair and drag him to his feet.

And _then_ he cared. He couldn't die on his knees, not without avenging his brother. Not without avenging himself, and the family that had been torn from him, the family he had left behind, the family he had _murdered_ to make Hatake Kakashi pay. He wasn't through yet, he had lost everything, all he had left was his life, and he wasn't going to let a chuunin take that away from him until he had finished what he came to Konoha to do.

Shaking with the sheer amount of hatred that he had kept brewing within him, he turned his head and glared up at the man who he was going to kill.

oO0Oo

It was the sound of a sob that had made Iruka pause. But it was the boy's _face_ that pierced Iruka where he stood, pinning him in place with his arm raised to deliver the blow to the back of the head that would knock the hunter-nin out.

He knew him. Iruka had seen this boy before, but he couldn't remember exactly when or where. But he knew that face, and the sight of those youthful features twisted with hatred and glaring up at him was like being stabbed. He was so _young_. Not as young as Naruto or Sakura, but younger than Iruka. Too young to have so much torment swimming in the emerald depths of his eyes. He was little more than a child.

Iruka's arm fell to his side as he looked back at the youth. He shuddered when he recalled how close some of his attacks had come to being fatal. Iruka had killed before, and he would kill again to protect his home and his comrades, but he had never been faced with so much pain and anger on such a boyish face before. His fingers felt numb around the handle of his kunai.

The youth climbed to his feet, slowly and with a deadly sort of grace that Iruka had only seen the likes of Kakashi use, and the realisation that this boy could move just like Kakashi hit Iruka with the knowledge that the youth was dangerous and was watching him with enough hatred to burn out the sun.

Iruka watched one muddied hand grip what looked like a long, blonde braid that was attached to the youth's belt. He took a single step back, wary suddenly, but his apprehension had returned. He knew he had to stop the youth, kill him if he had to, but the very idea left Iruka with the taste of bile in the back of his mouth.

He looked so young, and he held a whisper of Sasuke about him that made Iruka ache.

The end of the braid hit the floor, spraying mud in all directions, and it registered in Iruka's mind that hair shouldn't be quite that heavy, before there was a flash of gold, and he only just managed to duck out of the way of the braid, throwing himself to the ground and gripping the kunai in his hand tighter.

"What do you want?" Iruka yelled over the hiss of the rain.

The youth's lips twisted into a snarl as he answered.

"Blood."

oO0Oo

Shinichi shot towards the chuunin before the man could get to his feet. Umino Iruka had barely even managed to get to his knees when Shinichi skidded to a halt behind him. He threw the braid out and snapped the metallic length around the chuunin's neck, until he was wearing it like a scarf, an odd homage to Jin, as Shinichi clasped both ends in his mud soaked hands and pulled.

The schoolteacher managed to croak out a strangled gasp before his air was completely cut off. The braid was crushing his windpipe, and as he scratched at the hair, trying to free himself, Shinichi yanked harder and felt an unnatural calm settle over him.

This was it. Just a few more minutes and it would be done. Finished. Over.

He pulled harder as he stepped closer to the chuunin. He was overcome with the need to see the man's expression. To watch the life drain out of him. He wanted to be able to look down into Iruka's face and see his life end.

The chuunin's eyes were wide but unseeing, his lips parted as he tried to breath. Shinichi scrutinised the sight, feeling nothing more than impatience for the man to die. He was so focused on the chuunin's eyes that he didn't notice the movement of his arm until he felt a sharp, thrust of pain in his thigh.

He glared down at the kunai wedged in his leg. Even as he tightened the braid around Iruka's neck, the man was twisting the kunai in Shinichi's flesh, drawing out more pain and making Shinichi grit his teeth.

The schoolteacher released the kunai when it had no effect upon Shinichi, but Shinichi was watching him now, waiting for another defiant attempt to escape. He saw the flick of the man's wrist, saw something flit through the air from the man's hand and disappear behind him, but he had no time to react before the bridge exploded in a hail of rocks.

The blast knocked Shinichi off his feet and the braid out of his hand. His ears were ringing, and he could feel his back being pounded with debris. The schoolteacher had thrown an explosive tag behind them, it had blown up the bridge.

Shinichi reached out, feeling a vague relief when his fingers found the cold texture of Jin's braid. He felt as though he had been knocked out of himself for a moment. When he stood and swayed on his feet, the world seemed to lurch sickeningly before his eyes fell upon the chuunin.

Umino Iruka was on his feet too, coughing as he tried to catch his breath and rubbing his abused neck, but he was glaring back at Shinichi with enough heat to make Shinichi hesitate.

All that, and it would seem he had only made the chuunin angry.

Suddenly the anger faded from the chuunin's face, replaced by open surprise.

Iruka blinked.

"Shinichi?"

oO0Oo

Iruka could barely breathe. Each inhale seemed to scratch at his lungs, making him cough. But he managed to breathe for long enough to utter one word.

"Shinichi?"

That was his name. Or, at least, the name Sakura had introduced him as. He had seen the boy before, when he had ventured to Kakashi's apartment to return his uniform. Shinichi had been with Sakura, but he had been so preoccupied at the time, overrun with thoughts of Kakashi, that he hadn't been paying much attention. That was why he had only just realised. The hunter-nin knew Sakura.

He saw Shinichi's grip on the braid tighten briefly, before the sound of barking filled the park.

Shinichi seemed to have heard it too, because after doubt flashed across his features, his eyes hardened with determination as he stepped closer to Iruka. But he halted when a deep growl vibrated from the ruins of the bridge.

Pakkun was standing a top the rubble, aiming the glare that he had once aimed at Iruka, towards the hunter-nin.

"Get away from him," the pug growled.

Shinichi seemed to falter for a moment, as the baying of numerous dogs grew louder, before he cast another hateful glance towards Iruka and then turned, racing towards the copse of trees that had sheltered the bridge when it was still standing.

Light-headedness swept Iruka's legs out from under him. He fell to his knees as Akamaru barrelled over the ruined bridge past Pakkun. Iruka expected them to go after Shinichi, but Akamaru came to a stop a few feet away from Iruka, waiting, and Pakkun scurried through the mud towards Iruka with a scowl.

"Where is he?" Pakkun barked up at Iruka when the pug slid to a halt at his knees.

"He..." Iruka coughed, "into the trees... you just saw..."

"Not him!" Pakkun bellowed hysterically, "Kakashi! Where's Kakashi?"

Iruka blinked. His mind had filtered out everything but Shinichi in the last few minutes. He had forgotten Kakashi and Hanabi. He had forgotten that they could be dead, that he had no idea where they were. The hysteria in Pakkun's voice contaminated him, fear was clutching at his throat, tighter that the braid could ever had gotten.

"Iruka-sensei!"

Iruka looked up at the sound of his name. He jerked in surprise when Tsume placed a hand on his shoulder and peered down at him worriedly.

"Are you alright?" she asked calmly.

Iruka nodded hurriedly, "Kakashi... he was here, and Hanabi but I don't..."

"It's alright," Tsume said, "we'll find them, but you need to tell me who attacked you."

Iruka swallowed past the swell of fear in his throat, "a hunter-nin from Hidden Mist."

Tsume nodded and turned back to the gathering of Inuzukas that had swarmed the area, "find him."

"The rain!" Iruka grabbed Tsume's arm before she could move away, he needed to get across to them how dangerous the hunter-nin could be; he had seen what the rain could do when Shinichi decided to use it as a weapon, and the rain was still falling in torrents. He couldn't understand why he hadn't been attacked in the same way, but he needed to warn everyone else if they were going to chase after him, "it's a jutsu... he can use the rain..."

Tsume nodded once and straightened, eyes finding her daughter through the rainfall, "Hana, take a team and track him, but don't get too close. Kuromaru..."

Iruka's heart leapt into this throat. Tsume had glanced down at her side, where Kuromaru should have been, and for a moment her face was blanketed in honest confusion. Iruka saw her remember, he saw the memory drain the colour from her face and sap all of the confidence out of her eyes.

"Tsume..." his voice sounded hollow, there was nothing he could think of to say.

Tsume went rigid and drew her brows together before she looked down at Iruka, determined despite her grief, "I'll take you to the hospital."

"But where the hell is Kakashi?" Pakkun roared, louder than Iruka knew such a small dog could.

"We'll find him Pakkun," Tsume scolded, "Iruka can tell us what happened on the way to the hospital."

"How did you know?" Iruka asked, his voice was still raspy, but he could breathe a little better now, "how did you know I'd been attacked?"

Tsume's eyes flickered to Pakkun as she helped Iruka to his feet, "Pakkun was with us, he felt Kakashi's chakra waver for a moment and knew that something had happened. My whole family had gathered together for the... well, we were all there, so we came to help."

Iruka nodded and let Tsume lead him across the park as the rest of the Inuzuka clan scattered, trying desperately not to think about what it could mean when a summon felt his master's chakra waver.

oO0Oo

"You lucky, lucky bastard."

Kakashi awoke to blurred lights, hands molesting him, and Tsunade's voice hovering somewhere near his ear.

It took him a few seconds to realise that he was on his back. After a few more seconds he realised that he hurt everywhere, and that he hadn't been out of the hospital five minutes so he really had no place being back.

Then he remembered the rain, and the nauseating slice of water through flesh. The room came into focus when his mind stuttered upon Iruka and how Kakashi had left him.

He'd left him.

He shot up, head butting the Hokage as he tried to sit.

"Argh! What the hell..."

"Iruka!" Kakashi clutched his head as soon as he was in a sitting position and felt the room tip sideways.

"Lie down idiot!" Tsunade shoved him back on the bed, "do you have any idea how close you came to dying?"

Her face was scowling down at him, filled with more lines than Kakashi was used to seeing around her features. She looked exhausted, but equally as angry.

"You are one lucky son of a bitch," she muttered, "whatever the hell you got cut up with doesn't seem to be able to go through bone, you're lucky your skull is so thick."

She punctuated her observation with a thump to the head and proceeded to move her hands over him in a businesslike fashion, searching for more wounds.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Where's Iruka?"

"I'm asking the questions here brat!" she snapped, "I want your report. Right fucking now! Because whatever happened to you was what killed that bloody dog, and I can only assume it's the missing-nin we talked about."

"Your right," he replied with a choked off groan as Tsunade prodded his ribs, "it was a rain jutsu."

"Rain?" he saw a look of recognition pass over Tsunade's face before it was banished, "I see. I'll get Ibiki on it. Now tell me what happened, and what the hell does Iruka have to do with it?"

oO0Oo

Shinichi stumbled into the wall. Every last drop of energy had seeped out of him. He was bleeding, leaving a trail behind him like a series of glowing arrows. He had to get out of Konoha, he was in no state to fight anyone; he'd be killed in an instant.

If he unhooked Jin's braid from his belt, he'd be able to move faster. But he couldn't even contemplate parting with the only part of his best friend that he had left. He had no right to carry the hair around, he wasn't worthy of it, but he couldn't let it go. It was all he had left of Jin. Its weight was the only thing keeping him rooted to humanity.

He paused, just for a minute, leaning into the wall to catch his breath. He'd bruised something when the bridge exploded, and he was pouring blood from his thigh and his arm. The adrenaline that had been surging through him when he was fighting the schoolteacher had ebbed away, and he felt so weak he didn't know if he'd be able to push himself from the wall.

"Shinichi-san!"

Shinichi dredged up the energy to open his eyes, and blinked through the rain towards a pink blur across the street from him.

"Shinichi-san! What happened?" Sakura caught him when he tried to heave himself away. It took him a moment to realise that she was watching him in horror, with concern clearly etched into her face. She couldn't know what had happened, that he had attacked her old Academy teacher, or she'd be finishing him off around now.

"I..." his voice came out like a whisper. She had slung his arm over her shoulders and was holding him up with a surprising amount of strength.

She smelled like peppermint.

"Don't worry, I'll get you to the hospital!" she said frantically.

"No," Shinichi shook his head, "no, not the hospital."

"But, Shinichi-san! You need a medic!" Shinichi could feel her tugging him down the street, and panic flared in his belly. He had to get away from her. She might not be attacking him, but she was just as much of a threat, he had to get out of Konoha before he was captured.

"I don't need to go to the hospital!" Shinichi snarled, hauling himself away from her and collapsing back into the wall.

"Who did this to you?" Sakura demanded, with steel in her voice where before there had been only shock and worry.

Shinichi shook his head, "I'm fine Sakura. I just need to... go back to the teahouse and rest."

"You need a medic!"

"You're a medic," Shinichi pointed out, and then blinked in realisation, "Sakura-san, I don't need to go to the hospital, but could you..?"

Sakura's mouth flapped, as though she wanted to argue but didn't know how to react in the face of his stubbornness.

Shinichi suddenly found himself held up against Sakura with the same impressive strength she had used a few moments ago.

"Fine," she huffed as she pulled him in the opposite direction from where she was trying to take him before, "that's my house just over there, I'll see what I can do, but you're going to tell me what happened as soon as we're inside, do you hear me?"

Shinichi nodded against her shoulder and strained his ears for the sound of barking.

oO0Oo

"And what were you doing with Iruka in the park in the first place?" Tsunade frowned as she stepped back and planted her hands on her hips.

Kakashi could feel a blush rising in his cheeks, he was resoundingly grateful that he had his mask on, but as Tsunade raised an eyebrow he had the distinct impression that she could tell anyway.

But he couldn't have told her even if he had been so inclined. His throat had constricted to the point that it hurt to breathe. He still didn't know what had happened to Iruka, the chuunin could be dead for all Kakashi knew, murdered by a crazed missing-nin, and Kakashi was safe and warm on a hospital bed trying to will away a blush that was half embarrassment, half arousal at the memories that suddenly flooded his mind.

He'd kissed Iruka. He had put it to the back of his mind, but suddenly it was right there, the sensation of Iruka's lips, the heat of his body when he arched into him, the scent of jasmine. And Iruka could be dead. Dread had settled like a veil over Kakashi's body.

"Umino-san! You can't go in there!"

Kakashi's head whipped around towards the door, almost snapping his neck with the movement. He went very, very still, not even breathing, just waiting desperately.

"You don't understand!" Iruka's voice resounded from the corridor outside, "you have to let me in!"

And Kakashi could breathe. Every muscle in his body went limp, he hadn't realised how tense he was until all of the tightness dissolved out of his body. Iruka's voice was almost a melody, as frantic as he sounded, Kakashi felt weak with relief.

Pakkun's growl mingled with the arguing outside, "get out of the damn way!"

Tsunade hopped out of the way when the door slammed open and Pakkun bolted into the room, his legs a blur beneath him as he raced across the tiles.

"Kakashi!"

"Kakashi!" Iruka froze in the doorway, arms braced on the doorframe and heaving in each breath as his eyes fell upon Kakashi sitting on the edge of the bed.

Kakashi's stomach dropped out of him. He had left Iruka beneath the bridge, a little damp but perfectly fine. But standing before him Iruka was covered in mud, there was what looked suspiciously like blood splattered across his clothes, and an ugly red mark across his neck, quickly turning a violent shade of purple.

"Iruka..."

"Are you alright?" Iruka gasped as he finally threw himself into the room.

Pakkun yelped when Iruka kicked him in his haste to get closer to Kakashi, "I didn't know what had happened! I didn't know where you were or if you were okay..."

"What happened to you?" Kakashi cried as he climbed off the bed, only to be hit with a wave of dizziness.

"Kakashi!"

Iruka threw his arms around him, holding him firmly against his mud stained chest and breathing hard. The wave of dizziness was over, but Kakashi's knees suddenly felt even weaker than they had before, and if Iruka would keep holding him like that he would gladly feign dizziness for the rest of his life. The mud that the chuunin was covered in didn't matter, he was warm and solid, and he still smelled faintly of jasmine. The events of the last hour faded into insignificance. Kakashi wound his arms around Iruka's waist and for the first time in what might have been forever, he let himself cling to someone.

Until a pointed cough reminded him of the Hokage's presence.

Kakashi blinked and peered over Iruka's shoulder towards Tsunade, who was leaning against the wall, smirking slightly, with a malevolent sparkle in her eye.

Iruka loosened his hold on Kakashi, until Kakashi could step back to lean on the bed behind him. Iruka had turned a charming shade of pink, but he had a determined look on his face and seemed on the verge of saying something to the Hokage when a hard knock drew everyone's gaze to the doorway.

"You wanted to see me Hokage-sama," Ibiki loomed in the doorway, taking in the scene before him with a practiced detachedness.

"Yes," Tsunade's smirk was replaced with a scowl, "come with me."

Kakashi watched them stride from the room, and felt nervousness settle over him now that he was left alone with Iruka. He was unsure how to act around the chuunin now, he didn't know what to say.

"Are you alright?" Iruka whispered as his eyes darted over every inch of Kakashi.

"I'm fine," Kakashi nodded, "I can leave as soon as Tsunade's filed the paperwork."

"This is your idea of recuperation?" Pakkun squawked, making his presence known at Iruka's ankle, "where the hell was Gai? He was supposed to be there wasn't he? And what the hell was Iruka doing there?"

"Where's Hanabi?" Iruka asked, ignoring Pakkun completely, much to the pug's indignation.

"Shizune and Tsunade are taking turns working on her," Kakashi replied, "but Tsunade says she's responding to the technique they're using to heal her. They perfected it when working on Kuromaru but it was too late to save him, so they're using it to heal Hanabi."

Iruka nodded, and he seemed to sag slightly, as though the strings holding him up had suddenly snapped. He let out a relieved sigh and let his head fall forward.

"Are _you_ alright?" Kakashi asked, "what happened? I shouldn't have left you there alone, it was stupid of me, I just didn't think..."

"He's fine," Pakkun said gruffly, surprising both Kakashi and Iruka, "showed that bastard what Konoha shinobi are made of at any rate. Not bad for a chuunin."

Iruka gaped at the summon, red seeping into his face once again with the hastily muttered praise.

Pakkun snorted, "I still say it'll end in tears."

Iruka blinked before looking up at Kakashi, and smiling somewhat shyly, embarrassed maybe by the grudging compliment the pug had graced him with. Kakashi felt himself melting under the effect of that smile. He wanted to lean into Iruka, to feel the chuunin's arms around him again, but he didn't know how to ask for it.

Before he could ask for anything, Tsunade stomped into the room, her heels clacking loudly upon the tiles, "Iruka," she snapped, beckoning him towards her, "let's go, I want you to tell me everything that happened."

Iruka nodded, and glanced back at Kakashi, smiling slightly, "I'll be back. Don't go anywhere this time."

Kakashi smiled back and nodded. He wasn't going anywhere without Iruka, not if he didn't want him to.

oO0Oo

"This is a kunai wound Shinichi-san," Sakura watched him closely as she pressed her palm to the wound in his thigh, pulsing green light through her hand and healing warmth into his flesh, "you need to tell me how this happened. I'll need to file a report..."

"It was an accident," Shinichi sighed, slumping back against the cushions of the sofa and letting his eyes drift closed.

"It makes no difference," she argued, "I'm almost done, but when I'm finished I'm taking you to the hospital, I was on the way there anyway when I found you, and I won't take no for an answer."

Shinichi blinked his eyes open, and watched as his skin began to knit back together. She was good, there would be a scar, but considering that she was still in training to be a medic her abilities were impressive.

He cast his eyes over the equipment she had scattered over the table beside the sofa. No weapons, at least not in the conventional sense, but he could see a small bottle of soldier pills beside an assortment of antidotes. They would boost his chakra and give him enough energy to get out of the village unseen and untracked if he was careful. With the crutch to his chakra he'd be able to fight his way out if he needed to, but he desperately hoped that he wouldn't.

He let his eyes roam over the rest of the room. It was filled with feminine touches, pastel shades and pretty paintings hanging on the walls. No doubt Sakura's mother had decorated, going to great lengths to make her home beautiful. It was a pity Shinichi would leave it so bloodied.

His eyes fell upon a small picture in a frame on a shelf across the room. He could just make out Sakura's dash of pink hair, and a masked face above hers.

"Finished," Sakura sighed with a smile. She bent over him, checking the slash in his arm. The wound in his thigh had been the one that needed immediate attention, but she seemed determined to fix him up completely.

"Who is that picture of?" Shinichi asked, nodding towards the shelf when Sakura gave him a questioning glance.

"Hmm?" she turned to look, "oh, Team Seven. My team."

"Is that Kakashi behind you in the picture?" Shinichi asked, scowling slightly before he remembered to school his features.

Sakura didn't seem to notice the brief darkening of his expression; she smiled as she finished healing his arm and turned to look at the picture, "yeah. The blond boy is Naruto, he... he doesn't live here anymore," she said, the smile fading slightly, "and the other boy... well... he doesn't live here either."

The smile had completely left her face.

"So it's just you and Kakashi left?" Shinichi peered at her.

She nodded, still staring at the picture, "yeah... and even _I_ left to train with the Hokage." She gasped suddenly, her eyes widening, "you don't think he'd be upset by that do you? I mean... he suggested it, but I don't think he meant I should train with her full time... maybe that's why he seems to avoid me..."

Shinichi glanced at the bottle of soldier pills again, and then turned to look at the kunai sitting in its holster at Sakura's thigh.

"Shinichi-san," Sakura seemed to remember what she had been doing, "I've healed your injuries, but your chakra is still really low for some reason. I really think you need to come to the hospital..."

"Sakura-san," Shinichi looked up at her, "can I tell you something?"

She blinked in concern and nodded wordlessly.

He waved her closer, and like a trusting fool she moved to his side, close enough for him to whip out his hand and snatch the kunai from its holster, sweeping it through the air and through her flesh in one smooth motion.

Shinichi climbed to his feet, testing his weight on his newly healed leg as Sakura's face went slack. There was only a twinge in his thigh, just some residual bruising, but Sakura had done a brilliant job.

"Thank you for fixing me up Sakura-san," Shinichi said as Sakura sank bonelessly to her knees, blood rushing out of the tear in her abdomen, seeping into her clothes and down over her thighs until it poured onto the carpet.

Shinichi reached past her to swipe up the bottle of soldier pills. Sakura fell to the side, twitching slightly as she continued to bleed. Through the deadly slash across her abdomen the soft pink texture of her intestines were straining against the wound, visible beyond the lumpy, sallow layer of fat and the wine coloured muscle fibres that Shinichi had sliced through with her kunai. Blood was streaming out of her, staining all of the colours inside her a rich red.

He popped one of the pills into his mouth and reached for her weapons pouch that she had left on the chair on the other side of the room, before hurrying from the house, listening carefully for the sound of dogs baying.

oO0Oo

"You're sure it was the same person you saw with Sakura," Tsunade asked, fixing Iruka to the seat with her set gaze.

"Positive, Hokage-sama," Iruka replied, "she introduced him as Shinichi. Other than what I've told you, I don't know anything else about him."

She nodded, seemingly lost in thought for a moment, "I'll speak to Sakura. She's probably here by now, helping Shizune."

Iruka nodded and sank back into his seat. It was over now, for him at least. It was the Hokage's problem now, he could relax.

There was a small part of him that refused to relax until he had Kakashi within his sight. He had been terrified that he had lost the jounin, seeing him alive had almost caused Iruka to break down in tears of relief. He wanted to be back with Kakashi at that moment, he wanted to wrap his arms around him again and just breathe him in. More than anything he wanted to peel down Kakashi's mask and see him smile. One smile, just for him, and Iruka would gladly face any number of missing-nin with terrifying rain jutsu.

"Very well. There's one more thing," Tsunade said, calling Iruka back from thoughts of Kakashi's lips. When he looked up at the Hokage, he thought he saw amusement shining in her eyes.

"Yes Hokage-sama?"

"I want you to keep an eye on Kakashi," she said, "I'm discharging him, but that doesn't mean he's in perfect health. I'm going to send him home, and I'm making it your job to make sure he stays there. Preferably in bed."

"M-me?" Iruka stuttered, his mind very close to breaking when his thoughts focused on the words 'Kakashi' and 'bed'.

Tsunade nodded, her smile stretching into something that sent shivers down Iruka's spine, "I'm authorising you to restrain him if you have to. Tie him to the bed if he refuses to be a good boy."

Iruka could feel himself going red. But the blush wasn't entirely from embarrassment. He made a strangled little sound in the back of his throat and tried to will away a barrage of mental images.

"Dismissed."

Iruka swallowed and stood on shaky feet, feeling slightly breathless as he walked towards the door.

"Hokage-sama!" Iruka jumped to the side when the door slammed open, revealing a pale faced Izumo panting in the doorway.

"Hokage-sama!" he cried, "Inuzuka Megumi had been found dead three miles from the village, the ANBU patrol found her, her skull was... crushed."

The Hokage's chair clattered loudly to the ground when she threw herself to her feet, "where's the patrol leader, I want a full report," she turned to Iruka and scowled, "Iruka, make sure Kakashi knows that he is on enforced sick leave until further notice, he's not to get involved in the investigation."

Iruka nodded, "he won't."

oO0Oo

Pakkun was glowering sullenly at him from the corner of the room.

"What is your problem?" Kakashi frowned down at him from where he was perched on the edge of the bed.

"I don't have a problem," the pug replied, narrowing his eyes.

Kakashi snorted, but before he could argue he saw a flash of black and white dart past the open door to his room, and recognised the red streaks painted over ANBU masks and the nervous energy they left in their wake.

"Pakkun," Kakashi called, "go find out what's going on."

"No."

"What?" Kakashi scowled, "remind me again, whose summon are you?"

"The last time I left you alone for five minutes..."

"I'm in hospital," Kakashi groaned, "I'm not about to get attacked."

"Not until you decide to go for a wander."

"I'm not going anywhere, I'm waiting for Iruka."

Pakkun rolled his eyes, "ohhh, well then, why didn't you say so?"

"Will you just go?" Kakashi growled.

Pakkun sniffed and turned around, waddling leisurely towards the door and out into the corridor.

Kakashi pinched the bridge of his nose when the dog had left, screwing his eyes shut and trying to figure out what had gotten up the pug's nose. Pakkun was usually so laid back he was practically horizontal, but something had ruffled his fur, and he had a sinking suspicion that it had something to do with Iruka.

He wanted Iruka back. He wanted to know where they went from here, because despite the kiss, he still didn't know how Iruka felt. It made him uneasy, not knowing where he stood. For all he knew, Iruka might just want a fling, but Kakashi couldn't imagine his life without Iruka now. The chuunin had filled a hole in Kakashi that he hadn't known was there, he couldn't keep going without Iruka in his life.

"Hatake!"

Kakashi's eyes flew open in shock. He hadn't sensed anyone approaching, which was disconcerting, and he certainly hadn't expected Hyuuga Hiashi to storm into his room, the air around him crackling with fury.

"What do you want Hyuuga..." Kakashi was cut off abruptly when Hiashi fisted his hands in the torn, bloodstained material of his shirt and hauled him to his feet, glaring angrily at Kakashi, teeth bared like an enraged animal.

Kakashi had never seen the statuesque head of the Hyuuga clan lose all control before, and to be the sudden focus of the man's wrath was a little frightening. Kakashi grabbed the man's wrists, glaring back defiantly but unable to force the man to release him.

"What did you do to my daughter?" Hiashi demanded.

"What?" Kakashi cried, utterly confused.

"Answer me!" Hiashi yelled, shaking Kakashi violently before hissing dangerously, "you were seen in the hospital entrance, holding my daughter's body and covered in her blood! What did you..."

"Let go of me," Kakashi growled, "now."

"If anything happens to her Hatake..."

A number of things happened in such rapid succession that Kakashi found himself reeling. There had been a hand on Hiashi's chest, a hand that wasn't Kakashi's, and suddenly Hiashi was shoved backwards, away from Kakashi with such force that the Hyuuga almost fell to the ground. Once the man had righted himself, he found himself glowering at Iruka rather than Kakashi, who had stumbled back into the bed when he was so suddenly released. Iruka was standing between the two jounin, practically vibrating with caged anger.

"You won't touch him again," Iruka warned in a low, devastating voice.

Hiashi faltered for a moment, before he seemed to remember the reason he had sought Kakashi out.

"My daughter..."

"Kakashi saved Hanabi's life," Iruka snapped, his voice rising slightly, "now unless you've come here to drop down on your knees and thank him, I suggest you leave."

Kakashi's gaze moved from Hiashi's stunned expression, to the tense lines of Iruka's shoulders, then to the hands clenched into fists at his sides. He didn't think he had ever seen Iruka quite so angry, and the sight, the sound of Iruka's voice when it was quiet and harsh and as hard as steel, snatched all of the breath from Kakashi's lungs.

He heard Hiashi say something, but he wasn't paying attention. The only reason he knew the Hyuuga had left the room was because Iruka finally turned around to face him, still scowling in rage, with his jaw set and his eyes glinting with menace.

Kakashi licked his lips behind his mask, feeling exceptionally hot all of a sudden, and released something that was embarrassingly close to a strained whimper.

oO0Oo

If Hiashi hadn't left when he did, Iruka would have thrown his fist in the man's face. Kakashi had almost died, Iruka had been terrified that the jounin was dead, and he'd done it to save Hanabi's life. And that man had barged in and actually accused Kakashi of...

It was the sound that snapped Iruka back to the present. It was something like a softly breathed groan, and it sent a sharp spike of flushed desire through Iruka's body when he realised who had made that sound.

Kakashi was watching him almost in awe. The jounin's eyes were wide but slightly dazed, and Iruka suddenly felt incredibly embarrassed by what had just happened. He hadn't meant to speak to Hyuuga Hiashi like that, but the man had just _grabbed_ Kakashi and then he had actually _shaken_ him like some ragdoll...

Iruka released a breath, breathing all of his anger out of him.

"Sorry," Iruka smiled sheepishly, "I um... I don't know what came over me."

Kakashi shook his head slightly, and then yanked his mask down. Iruka couldn't help the gasp that he let out; it seemed like a crime to reveal Kakashi's face so abruptly. It should be done slowly, with infinite care, because Kakashi's face was like a work of art.

It wasn't that Kakashi's face was the stuff of legends, Iruka was sure that there were men equally as devastating as Kakashi, but his face was something that no one got to see.

But then Kakashi smiled, and Iruka knew then, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that there had never lived a man who was as wickedly gorgeous as Hatake Kakashi.

"My hero," Kakashi smiled.

Iruka's breath caught in his throat.

"I don't remember the last time someone did that for me," Kakashi said quietly, still smiling.

"Did what?" Iruka whispered, because he felt like he should whisper, if only so that he wouldn't draw attention to himself, and how he was found wanting compared to Kakashi.

"Defended me," Kakashi replied simply, and that was it for Iruka, because he had had similar thoughts before: who would think to defend the famous Copy-ninja? He had felt vaguely protective towards the jounin before then, but faced with Kakashi's grateful smile Iruka was undone by such a powerfully possessive longing that he had moved forward before he remembered that he had legs, and cupped Kakashi's face in his hands so that he could kiss him until their lips were left bruised.

oO0Oo

Kakashi shuddered. Their second kiss was different from their first, this kiss was all heat and need and tongues. Kakashi moaned as he sucked Iruka's tongue into his mouth, wrapping his arms around the chuunin so that he could press their bodies closer together.

Iruka rolled his hips into Kakashi's and the fervent longing that had been curled up inside Kakashi unravelled and licked throughout his body. He _wanted_, he wasn't sure it was possible to _want_ so much and survive. He dragged his palms down Iruka's spine, splayed his hands out against the curve of Iruka's ass and _grinded_ into him.

Iruka's eager groan was muffled in Kakashi's mouth, and the chuunin delved his hands into Kakashi's hair and kissed him harder, thrusting his tongue and rolling his hips, until Kakashi was in very serious danger of making a mess in his standard issue pants.

"Oh for the love of..."

With a startled yelp the kiss ended with a wet smacking sound, and the movement of Iruka's hips jerked to a halt. Over Iruka's shoulder Kakashi could see Pakkun scowling up at them.

"Inuzuka Megumi was killed," the pug said.

Kakashi's heart dropped like a stone. The heated atmosphere was leeched away; Iruka stepped back with a startled expression.

"Details?" Kakashi asked quietly.

"The missing-nin's scent was found in the area apparently," Pakkun replied.

Kakashi clenched his fists. He had to do something; the missing-nin needed to be dealt with before there were any more deaths. Kakashi felt furious at his own helplessness. He had left Iruka in the park, to face the missing-nin alone, and his anger at himself was scorching his insides.

"Kakashi," Iruka touched his arm, "let's go. The Hokage told me to make sure you get home and stay there so that you can heal properly."

"I'm fine," Kakashi argued.

"No you're not," Iruka frowned, "you were riddled with holes! And you're still supposed to be healing from the last time you were in here."

"But..."

"No buts!" Pakkun barked, "you heard the man! Don't argue!"

Kakashi floundered for a moment when faced with the unified front of Iruka and Pakkun, but when he saw their determined stares he sighed.

"Fine."

oO0Oo

Pakkun trotted along behind them as they headed towards the main door of the hospital. Iruka was at a loss as to how he was supposed to make sure Kakashi stayed at home. He could, of course, simply stay by the jounin's side until he was declared fit for duty, but that was being slightly presumptuous. Kakashi might not want him staying in his apartment, no matter what the Hokage said.

But the idea wouldn't leave Iruka alone. Getting to be with Kakashi, all night, his imagination was having the time of its life. But he'd still want to stay with Kakashi even if the jounin did nothing but sleep.

Iruka would happily watch Kakashi sleep.

As they walked past the nurses' station, the main doors burst open, and three sleek white dogs charged into the building, knocking people out of the way and causing chaos, until the doors opened again and silence descended.

"Somebody get the Hokage!" Hana screamed, holding a pale, bloodstained body in her arms.

There was a trail of glistening blood behind her, and deep red soaking into Hana's clothes where she held the body against her. Iruka felt bile rising in this throat when he saw blood gushing out of the body and pooling at Hana's feet.

Iruka only noticed the pink hair when Kakashi's voice reached, him, shaking and broken.

"Sakura."


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen**

Shinichi's stride slowed to a stroll when he neared the mess of stone and bricks. Almost an entire street had been razed to the ground; the setting sun cast a reddish hue over the mess, like a splash of blood across the wreckage. Even without the violent shade of colour, it would have been obvious that there had been a battle recently, and the ninja in Shinichi swallowed every detail of the scene, unconsciously scanning his surroundings for any threats.

Otafuku Gai was coming alive with floating laughter and colourful glows from hanging lanterns. The sounds of vibrancy echoing around the deserted battleground gave the air an eerie quality; it set Shinichi's already raw nerves into disarray. He feared he had taken too many soldier pills between Konoha and Otafuku Gai; he felt twitchy and full of nervous energy despite the fact that he should have felt exhausted after his fight with the Academy teacher only hours ago and his frantic race through the forest since then.

He stepped to an abrupt halt when a figure hobbled in front of him. He immediately wrinkled his nose in disgust at the bedraggled old man hunched before him.

"A spare ryo sir?" the stranger simpered, holding out his filthy palm in hopeful expectation, "for a man who lost his home and his livelihood?" He swept his other hand out to indicate the fallen buildings.

"What happened?" Shinichi demanded, too tense to even attempt to feign sympathy for the man.

The old man's face twisted into a derisive sneer, "ninja," he spat, "damn Konoha ninja coming here and knocking down buildings like they own the place."

Shinichi felt a pressure behind his eyes, as though there was something inside him trying desperately to escape, "ninja?" He could recall hearing something about Otafuku Gai when he had been in Konoha; his mind conjured the image of a shinobi with a scarred face and a kunoichi with purple hair dashing over the rooftops to go to the aid of…

"It was that bloody Copy-ninja," the haggard old man growled, "come here to catch himself some enemy ninja. Knocked down the entire street in one move, never mind the people inside the buildings!"

Something nauseating swelled in Shinichi's gut. No matter where he went he couldn't escape; Hatake Kakashi would follow him wherever he went, bringing with him the ghosts of the people Shinichi had failed.

"But a spare ryo, sir, could you..?"

"Get out of my way," Shinichi hissed, shoving angrily past the beggar. He heard the man fall to the ground with a muffled exclamation but he didn't turn back to look. He needed to get away from the evidence of the Copy-nin's presence. Even out of the corner of his eye he could see the ruined buildings, and they seemed to mock him with the careless devastation that Hatake Kakashi could wield.

The eerie floating laughter grew more solid upon the air as he swerved down alleyways and across gradually livelier streets. He felt unsettled, and lost somehow, as though he had reached a dead end and would have to turn back to find his way again. Everything had gotten so far out of his control that he was reeling, dreadfully aware that he would only have one last chance to exact his revenge. They knew who he was now, Umino Iruka had seen his face, knew his name, they knew where he came from and what his most powerful jutsu was. They would be prepared for him when he went back to Konoha. And he _had_ to go back. There was nothing else for him but revenge and death. He knew, with a certainty that was both calm and frantic at the same time, that he would not leave Konoha if he ventured back to the village again. He wouldn't escape again, he'd be killed.

But he had to put an end to it, because he would have no rest, not even in death, until the souls of Zabuza and Jin had been appeased, until his own soul was rid of the poison that had seeped into it.

With this one certainty in mind, Shinichi slid through the gravel on the road beneath his feet and moved into one of the laughter filled buildings, full of nervous energy and desperation now that his time was all but up.

oO0Oo

At some point over the last few hours, Iruka had slipped his hand into Kakashi's. The sensation of a warm weight in his palm had confused Kakashi at first; there had been a fog in his mind, shielding him from the chaos of emotions raging inside him. He had spent a few minutes staring down at Iruka's hand, which had clasped his own with a fierce kind of need, trying to make sense of the fingers that were entwining with his own.

He was still staring at Iruka's hand, now clasped equally as fiercely by his own. The feeling of Iruka's hand in his was steadying, and the sight was possibly the only thing that was keeping him grounded. He had tried to look up from the image of Iruka's richer coloured skin against his own ghost like fingers, but all he had seen was the violent pool of Sakura's blood and the vermillion footprints that had carried Sakura across the room. Even after the blood had been mopped up he could still see it, splashed wetly across his vision. Everything else in the world had faded to shades of grey, apart from the dashes of red that stained his thoughts.

He had avoided Sakura as much as he could over the past few months. He had tried to distance himself from her, still feeling the sting of losing Sasuke and Naruto after unknowingly beginning to care about them. He thought that if he didn't see her, didn't speak to her, that he wouldn't _feel _when he inevitably lost her too. But this feeling wasn't just a sting, it was a festering wound, and he was being devoured by the fact that he had been trying to avoid talking to her for so long that he couldn't remember what the last thing he had said to her had been. He had no doubt that she was dying, and instead of the detachment he had hoped for, he felt consumed by grief at not having spent more time with her when he had had the opportunity.

Iruka was talking to him. He could hear his voice, but he lacked the ability to make sense of the sounds. Whatever he was saying though, Iruka's voice was soothing; it flowed like warm caramel and eased each breath Kakashi took in.

Still staring helplessly down at their entangled hands, Kakashi let his head fall to the side slightly, until his cheek was cushioned upon Iruka's shoulder.

The warm caramel faltered for a moment, before Iruka shifted a little in his seat, so that the angle of Kakashi's neck upon the chuunin's shoulder was more comfortable. He focused upon the silky texture of Iruka's skin as his thumb stroked over the veins in the back of Iruka's hand, upon the firm line of Iruka's shoulder beneath his cheek and the scent of rain and earth clinging to him, mingled with the faint fragrance of jasmine. He tried to focus upon nothing but Iruka, rather than the blood that his imagination could see staining the edge of his vision.

oO0Oo

When Iruka turned his head, his face was buried in wild silvery hair. For a moment he fell silent and let himself get lost in the feel of Kakashi leaning into him. It was easy to just let himself float in Kakashi's presence and forget everything that had happened, but occasionally Kakashi's hand would tighten around his, and remind Iruka with a lurching jolt of exactly why they were still in the hospital, sitting in the waiting area with Pakkun prowling the aisles of chairs in anxiety.

"She'll be fine," Iruka said, "the Hokage will… she won't let Sakura… she'll be fine." He hadn't been able to stop talking. He knew that Kakashi probably wasn't listening to him, but the constant dialogue was for Iruka himself, an attempt to calm himself and chase away the tremors that were threatening to break through him.

The truth was he was terrified. If he kept talking, kept assuring himself that Sakura would be alright, he could pretend that his fear was less than it was. But it was the act of reassuring Kakashi, even though he knew that in reality he was doing no such thing, that was keeping him sane as they waited.

"She'll be fine," he mumbled into Kakashi's hair, "I wonder if anyone's found her parents yet. Hana was in a terrible state. She'll have lost his scent now, not that she can be blamed when he attacked Sakura, but that means he's still out there. I suppose the Hokage will assign some ANBU to protect Sakura while she's in here; she'll be in here for a while I guess…"

He was startled into silence when the line of Kakashi's body beside him went rigid. Iruka blinked in confusion when Kakashi sat up and clenched Iruka's hand in his. He was even more confused by the heavy glare that Kakashi was giving him, amplified by their proximity.

"What?" Kakashi said in a deadly whisper.

Iruka just shook his head, not understanding the question. He tried to think back on what he had just said, but his words had merely been rambling thoughts, he couldn't remember if he had said anything that might upset the jounin.

"What did you mean?" Kakashi asked in a low voice, "how do you know who attacked Sakura?"

"Huh?" Iruka swallowed.

"You were talking about the person who attacked Sakura," Kakashi said, "something about a scent."

"I…" Iruka bit his lip, unable to look away from the ferocity in Kakashi's uncovered eye. Truthfully, he didn't know for sure who had attacked Sakura, but he assumed that it had been Shinichi.

Then he remembered that he hadn't told Kakashi what he knew, that he had recognised the missing-nin as an acquaintance of Sakura's. He glanced around, flustered, because he hadn't meant to keep anything from the jounin, he had simply forgotten everything when he finally came face to face with Kakashi. Seeing the man after fearing that he was dead had wiped everything from his mind. And then Sakura had been rushed in covered in blood and there were suddenly so many other things to think about rather than whether Kakashi had all of the facts.

"Hana was tracking the missing-nin," he replied, meeting Kakashi's severe gaze, "and…"

Before Iruka could finish what he had been about to say, the double doors across the room swung open. Kakashi's head snapped around to see Shizune moving tiredly towards them, with her shoulders sagging under an invisible weight.

Seeing the woman's posture threw a spike of ice through Iruka. Sakura had to be alright, she had to be because Iruka wouldn't know what to do if she wasn't. She was important to him, she was one of his precious people, she had to be alright.

Both he and Kakashi stood at the same time. Iruka snatched his arm out to steady Kakashi when the jounin seemed to sway slightly on his feet, no doubt still suffering from blood loss and fatigue, but Iruka didn't look away from Shizune's approaching figure.

"What happened? Is she…" Iruka's voice cracked. He couldn't say it, another word would defeat him.

"She's alive," Shizune said firmly, before sighing heavily and staring down at the floor at her feet, "it was touch and go but she… we think she managed to heal some of the damage herself before she passed out. We'll have to wait for her to wake up before we'll know if she'll make a full recovery, but we're hopeful."

Iruka clutched at Kakashi's arm, suddenly fearful that he wouldn't be able to remain upright under his own power. There must have been some little part of him that hadn't really expected Sakura to make it, because he was shaking in relief, partly unable to believe that the worst hadn't happened.

"Where's the Hokage?" Kakashi asked.

Iruka hadn't noticed Kakashi's arm reach around his shoulder, keeping him up, but as soon as he heard Kakashi's voice, quiet and tired, he registered the pressure holding him against the jounin's side and felt something inside him go weak.

"Resting," Shizune replied, "she used up most of her chakra today, healing you and Hanabi and then Sakura. She isn't even able to maintain her youthful appearance, you'll need to wait until tomorrow if you need to see her."

Kakashi frowned, but nodded a second later.

"Can we see Sakura?" Iruka asked. The arm around his shoulders tensed slightly, Kakashi's fingers were pressing into his upper arm, clasping desperately.

Shizune shook her head sympathetically, "the Hokage wants to keep her isolated and under observation. You could try coming back tomorrow, but I doubt her orders will have changed. She was pretty shaken by what had happened."

"I think we all were," Iruka replied softly.

Shizune's eyes flitted from Iruka to Kakashi, following the embrace of the jounin's arm around Iruka, and smiled slightly, "I guess so."

"There's nothing more we can do here," Pakkun said suddenly, from directly behind Kakashi, "you were told to go home and rest Kakashi."

"A security detail should be assigned to Sakura," Kakashi told Shizune, ignoring the pug.

"Already done," Shizune said, "an ANBU team is posted around the room she's in. She'll be perfectly safe."

"Iruka thinks it was the missing-nin…"

"I already informed the Hokage about the missing-nin," Iruka interrupted, "she knows."

Kakashi turned to Iruka with a shadowed frown, dropping his arm from around Iruka's shoulders. Without the weight there, holding him up against Kakashi's side, Iruka felt slightly more fragile.

"When?" Kakashi asked.

"After I saw you," Iruka said, "when the Hokage called me away to speak to me about what had happened in the park…"

"But how could you know it was the missing-nin who attacked Sakura before she was even found?"

"Oh," Iruka licked his lips nervously, remembering what he had been in the middle of telling Kakashi about before Shizune had arrived, "what I meant was… I told the Hokage that Sakura knew the missing-nin."

"What?" Kakashi cried, taking a deliberate step towards Iruka. Iruka automatically backed away from Kakashi's aggressive posture, "you didn't think to tell me this?"

"I only found out today!" Iruka yelled defensively.

"You should have told me!" Kakashi took another angry step into Iruka, "you should have told someone as soon as you found out! While you were hanging onto that piece of information Sakura was being gutted!"

"W-what?" Iruka's breath caught in his chest as he tried to make sense of what Kakashi had just said. He _had_ told someone, he had told the Hokage… but only after coming to the hospital and wasting precious time searching for Kakashi. If he had gone straight to the Hokage, or if he had told Tsume before they had even left the park…

"Oh god…" Iruka choked. He felt weightless with horror. If he had told someone immediately, then they would have gone to find Sakura, she would have been safe, but because he had ignored such a vital piece of information Sakura had nearly died.

He needed to be sick. His feet carried him backwards, away from Kakashi's fiery glare and Shizune's stunned expression. This was entirely his fault. Sakura could have died, and he could have prevented it.

oO0Oo

The anger fell from Kakashi's expression the moment Iruka turned and fled. He stood in silence as he watched Iruka race out of the hospital and felt regret and shame at what he had just said well up inside him.

"Um…" Shizune edged away from him, "you need to go home Kakashi-san, to rest, orders from your medic."

Before Kakashi could even turn to look at her she had rushed away, leaving Kakashi standing alone in the middle of the waiting room, with the few people gathered there staring at him in shock at his outburst. He felt ice cold; the world had screeched to a halt, waiting in silence as Kakashi tried to calm the panic spreading through his gut.

He shouldn't have said that.

"That was a little harsh," Pakkun frowned up at him.

"I… I didn't mean…" Kakashi felt something inside him start shaking uncontrollably. He could still see all of the colour drain from Iruka's face at Kakashi's accusation, the sheer terror in Iruka's eyes before he had raced away. Kakashi felt ill.

"Come on," Pakkun huffed as he waddled past Kakashi, "let's go home."

Kakashi couldn't move. He looked down at the pug and swallowed around the distress rising in his throat.

"I'll meet you back in the apartment," Kakashi replied in a whisper, unable to force his voice any louder.

"What?" Pakkun whirled around to fix him with a pointed glare.

"You heard me," Kakashi said, his voice rising until he was almost yelling again, "just do as I tell you, there's something I have to do."

Before Pakkun could put up an argument, Kakashi strode past him and hurried out into the cold. He was still angry. He was seething on the inside with molten fury, but he was angry at himself, not Iruka. More than anything though, he felt a pang of guilt for losing his temper with the one person who did not deserve it. He had to find Iruka and apologise, even though Kakashi probably didn't deserve to be forgiven for what he had said.

oO0Oo

Shinichi hunched in upon himself, staring at the cup of cheap sake on the greasy table, the only thing he could afford to buy before he had no money left. He should have saved his last few ryo for food, but he wanted the burning wash of alcohol to drown out the pain inside him, just for a little while.

He knew a single cup of cheap sake wouldn't quite do it.

He hadn't known the place was a brothel when he walked in. He had just wanted somewhere warm and secluded to hide from the world. He should have known; he prided himself on his intelligence gathering, yet he had wandered into a whorehouse in the middle of the red light district without any idea.

He had received a few strange looks as he entered, though he wasn't sure if they were due to the scowl adorning his face, the bloodstains across his clothes, or the fact that he seemed to be so much younger than everyone else in the building. But his pride wouldn't let him walk in and then immediately turn around and walk out like some kind of blushing virgin, so he had headed straight for the bar and endeared himself to the staff by spending some money.

The very air was thick with sweat and sex and sake. He could almost feel it crawling over his skin, saturating his clothes. The lights were so dim that he could pretend the sake cup before him was clean and the girl dancing on the table nearby didn't have scratched bruises around her wrists and finger marks on her thighs.

He stiffened when he felt a hand trail up over his spine, and a thin, frail looking young woman pressed up against his side and smiled seductively down at him. Shinichi found himself hunching over his drink even further, rigid with tension. He felt as though he had suddenly been coated in filth, and the only reason he didn't wrench the woman's arm from where it rested across his back was because he didn't want to have to touch her bare skin.

"You look like you need something to smile about," the prostitute purred into his ear, breathing warm breath across his skin.

Shinichi turned to glare at her. She was so close to him that he could see each individual freckle across her nose, despite the low lighting.

He hadn't wanted to appear like a blushing virgin when he walked in, and blushing he most certainly was not, but that didn't disguise the fact that he had never had sex. He had done everything but that, he wasn't completely sexually naïve, but his experience consisted of hurried fumbles with forgettable girls back in his village. After Zabuza had left he hadn't wanted to get close to anyone else. He had Jin and Narumi, and his sensei and the Mizukage. He didn't want any sort of intimacy with anyone else, so he had focused everything he had on becoming strong enough to face his brother.

He supposed he was a little too old to be so inexperienced, but he had always consoled himself with the fact that his teammate Narumi was still a virgin too. They had wondered for a while, after a mission to infiltrate a prostitution ring when they were sixteen and Narumi had gone undercover. Afterwards, he and Jin had watched her like a pair of hawks, accompanying her everywhere, hissing at anyone how so much as smiled at her. It was only after Jin had inevitably exploded and demanded to know how many and who, and where they were so he could slice off their genitals, that Narumi had turned bright red and informed them that her genjutsu was the best in the village so they didn't have to slice anything off anyone.

He had never felt the need to have sex as soon as possible like other guys his age, not while Narumi was still just as inexperienced as he was. But Jin was the resident stud of Hidden Mist and if Shinichi died a virgin then Jin would…

Shinichi jerked uncomfortably as the prostitute leaning into him combed her fingers through his hair. He had been shunted out of his memories and back into the seedy brothel he had found himself in. But he couldn't ignore the fact that he was going to die a virgin, and it was such an inconsequential problem, so insignificant compared to everything else he had to worry about, that he laughed as the prostitute's other hand stroked up the inside of his thigh.

If he died a virgin, Jin would laugh. And the thought of Jin laughing at anything brought unexpected tears to Shinichi's eyes. He blinked them away as his laughter faded. The ache in his chest had grown unbearably painful.

He needed to go back to Konoha as soon as his chakra had recovered fully, he couldn't rely upon soldier pills. But going back to Konoha would be signing his own death warrant, and this was his last chance to do _anything_. If he wanted to experience something before he died he would have to do it now, before he went back to find his revenge. He had wanted to remove himself from the agony deep inside himself, but he hadn't known how.

"I bet I could put a smile on your face," the woman crooned.

Shinichi picked up the sake cup and swallowed down his revulsion along with the scalding alcohol.

"How much?" he asked, already planning a way to escape having to pay.

oO0Oo

Iruka cupped his hands beneath the tap and gathered the biting cold water in his hands before splashing it into his face. He was still shaking slightly, numb to everything but a bone deep horror.

He would never be able to look at Sakura again without knowing that the scar she would no doubt wear across her abdomen was his fault. Why hadn't the knowledge of Sakura's friendship with the missing-nin been the first thing Iruka had thought of when Tsume and her family had arrived. It was such an important slice of knowledge, something that the Hokage should have been informed of immediately so that they could find out what Sakura knew of him, that it should have been the only thing on Iruka's mind after he had been found by the Inuzukas.

But the only thing on his mind had been Kakashi and Hanabi. He should have been thinking about the village, and the threat that Shinichi posed. Instead he had focused all of his thoughts selfishly upon what was most important to him. And Sakura had almost died.

His reflection in the bathroom mirror echoed his inner turmoil. His face was deathly pale, causing the scar across his nose to stand out in stark relief. He had to turn away, unable to bear the sight of himself as he turned the water off and grabbed a towel to dry his face.

His insides were lurching. His hands were shaking even as he pressed the towel to his face and hid behind the material. His chest had tightened, and just the act of breathing was insurmountably difficult.

He dropped the towel on top of his flak jacket as he padded through the door into his bedroom, and almost tripped and fell in shock before he caught himself.

"I'm sorry," Kakashi gasped from the other side of the room, standing just in front of the open window.

Iruka turned to ice for a moment, wanting to run and hide, but Kakashi's apology seeped past his guilt and his surprise and rooted him to the spot.

"What for?" he asked hesitantly.

"It wasn't you fault," Kakashi said firmly, "what happened to Sakura, I'm sorry for saying that it was."

Iruka shook his head, sinking into a mire of remorse, "no, you were right," he said quietly, dropping his eyes to the floor, "if I had told someone straight away…" his voice trailed off. There were tears forming in his eyes and he had to fight them back, determined not to cry in front of Kakashi.

"It wouldn't have made a difference," Kakashi argued, his voice becoming subdued.

"Yes it would," Iruka forced out, "I should have known what could happen, but I was too worried about finding you that I didn't even spare a thought for Sakura."

There was a moment of silence before Iruka was grasped firmly by two solid arms and crushed against Kakashi's chest. All of the breath was shocked out of him as he found himself held desperately within Kakashi's arms.

"When I woke up in the hospital," Kakashi breathed into Iruka's hair, "I tried to leave without telling Tsunade anything. I would have left without a single word about the attack on Hanabi because I couldn't think about anything but finding you and making sure you were alright."

Warmth burst within Iruka's chest. Kakashi's hold on Iruka tightened, and instead of standing there limp and passive as he had been, Iruka stretched his arms around Kakashi's waist and buried his face in the jounin's chest.

"You said Hana had been following the missing-nin," Kakashi went on, "she must have started after him almost immediately, but even she hadn't gotten to Sakura in time. So even if you had said something straight away, it wouldn't have made a difference. It wasn't your fault."

Everything inside Iruka eased slightly. Guilt was still writhing throughout him, but he felt calmer. Kakashi said it wasn't his fault, and even though he knew that Kakashi was just trying to make him feel better, every ounce of his being trusted the jounin. He trusted him enough to believe that he couldn't have changed anything no matter what he had done.

"I'm sorry," Kakashi said, almost too softly to be heard. It took a moment for Iruka to remember what the jounin was apologising for. He hadn't been upset by Kakashi's accusation, only by his sickening belief that he was right.

"I wasn't angry at you," Kakashi said in a strained voice, "I was angry at myself, I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

Iruka clasped harder at Kakashi, "why were you angry at yourself? There was nothing you could have done."

Kakashi pulled away suddenly, leaving Iruka to feel cold without the heat of the jounin's body wrapped around him.

"I should have done something," Kakashi growled, frowning in a self deprecating way and aiming his eyes at the floor by his side, as though unable to look into Iruka's face, "I've known that there was a missing-nin here for a while, I saw the hunter-nin in the forest, I should have found him by now! If I had talked to the Inuzukas about the hunter-nin they came across in the forest when they went after the missing-nin, I would have known that he was still here. If they had described the hunter-nin to me I would have known what had happened, that he wasn't really dead, we could have kept looking…"

"Kakashi…" Iruka reached out, but Kakashi stepped out of Iruka's reach.

"I knew that he had been sniffing around Gai," Kakashi's hands clenched into shaking fists, "I should have done something to find him… If I had… Sakura wouldn't… and Inuzuka Megumi would still be alive…"

"Kakashi!" Iruka practically dived towards the jounin and gripped the man by the shoulders, forcing him to look Iruka in the eye.

"You can't blame yourself," Iruka said firmly, "you aren't all powerful and omnipotent, how the hell could you have prevented any of this?"

"I could have…"

"Stop it," Iruka snapped lightly, "don't try to take responsibility for this, you'll drive yourself insane."

Kakashi blinked and let his eyes drop from Iruka's face, but they didn't fall far until Iruka saw that single fathomless eye widen, and despair settled into the outline of Kakashi's face.

"Kakashi?"

One of the jounin's hands moved upwards, until his fingers brushed lightly across Iruka's neck, like a whisper. The pads of Kakashi's fingers danced across his skin, so gently that Iruka could barely feel them; he was left with only a vague tingling upon his skin where Kakashi had touched.

"Are you alright?" Kakashi asked in a pained voice, finally looking back into Iruka's eyes.

"I'm fine," Iruka replied, "why? What's wrong?"

"Your neck…" Kakashi trailed off as his eyes sank back to where his fingers were hovering.

Iruka remembered then: the hardness wrapped around his neck, squeezing all of the life out of him, crushing his neck and depriving him of air. He must be bruised, but he had entirely forgotten. The panicked sensation of being strangled slammed back into him, stealing all of the air in his lungs once again.

But Kakashi was still softly tracing his fingers across Iruka's skin, watching the path that his fingers created with a pained shine in his eye. The gentle touches chased away the memory, pulling Iruka firmly back into the present, with his hands resting upon Kakashi's shoulders and Kakashi's fingers just barely moving upon him. There were mere inches between their bodies, and Iruka was intimately aware of every last one.

"I'm fine," Iruka breathed, moving his hands across the expanse of Kakashi's shoulders, until his palms smoothed up the jounin's neck and floated over Kakashi's cheeks. A prickle of hesitation made him pause for a second, because he hadn't pulled Kakashi's mask down himself before, he wasn't sure if he was allowed. But he wanted to see his face, he wanted to feel Kakashi's lips beneath his own again, he wanted to press the entire length of his body against Kakashi's and let the heat of the other man's body consume him.

Kakashi's eye had darted back to Iruka's face, slightly startled when Iruka moved his hands, but the jounin made no move to stop Iruka, so very slowly, just like he imagined Kakashi's face should be revealed, Iruka peeled the thin material down over Kakashi's features and drank in the sight of each inch of Kakashi's pale, almost flawless skin as it was uncovered.

Iruka let his fingertips map out Kakashi's features, stroking over his cheekbones and around the curve of his jaw, until his fingers reached the softness of Kakashi's lips and the jounin's heated breath upon Iruka's fingertips stirred arousal at Iruka's centre of gravity, until he feared he might lose his balance.

Kakashi was the one who closed the remaining distance between them, tipping himself forwards and placing his lips carefully over Iruka's, just touching, sharing a breath. Kakashi's hands had come to rest upon Iruka's hips, he could feel the light pressure of the jounin's palms branding him. The soft touches, the careful movement of hands and lips felt like a single drop of water to a man dying of thirst. Sparks of need were flaring throughout him, so Iruka surged forwards, seizing Kakashi's lips with his own, overcome with a fierce desperation that made him arch into the other man's body and thrust his fingers into his silvery hair.

He had become unravelled by need, harsh and aching and there was no way he would ever be able to let go now, not now he knew how soft Kakashi's hair felt, or how firm Kakashi's body was when pressed against his. Kakashi's tongue was plundering his mouth, drawing sounds from Iruka's throat that he had never heard himself make before. The jounin's hands were no longer resting teasingly upon Iruka's hips, they had wrenched him closer, so that he was caught within Kakashi's arms. Kakashi's hands were splayed across his back, pressing them closer together, but Iruka was maddeningly aware of the barrier of clothes between them.

He wanted skin. He had seen Kakashi's face, now he wanted to see the rest of him. He wanted to be able to touch every part of Kakashi's body, to map out every curve of muscle and jut of bone that he could feel beneath the fabric. He knew what the jounin's mouth tasted like, now he wanted to taste the rest of him before his newfound hunger drove him to insanity.

He had been so afraid that Kakashi was seriously hurt, or that he was dead. Relief had made him so profoundly grateful. Kakashi was fine, Hanabi would be fine, and Sakura would be alright. The weight that had been pressing Iruka into the ground slowly began to lift.

He moved his hands, tugging the jounin's flak jacket open impatiently and snaking his hands beneath it, so that he could push the material over Kakashi's shoulders and let it drop to the floor, out of the way. He refused to release Kakashi's lips, even as the jounin had to release Iruka from his arms as his flak jacket was removed. Iruka dragged his fingers down over Kakashi's chest, towards the hem of the black shirt the jounin wore, and curled his fingers beneath the fabric, thrumming with arousal when he touched bare skin, hot and smooth and entirely Kakashi's.

Kakashi moaned; Iruka could feel the sound vibrate through him as his palms wandered over Kakashi's stomach, tracing the definition he found there with eager fingertips, until his thumb flickered briefly over a pebbled nipple, drawing out a shudder.

In a single, sweeping movement, Iruka pushed Kakashi's shirt upwards, yanking it over his head, dislodging the jounin's hitai-ate. Iruka had been forced to break the kiss, leaning back to gasp for breath and rove his gaze over what he had uncovered as the clothing was dropped to the floor.

The consuming haze that had enveloped Iruka dissipated, letting him see through his desire with alarming clarity.

The pale glow of Kakashi's skin was mottled with dried blood.

oO0Oo

Kakashi's lips were tingling from the pressure of the kiss. He wanted another one, he missed the sensation of Iruka's tongue delving into his mouth and coaxing reactions out of his body. He doubted he'd be able to last without more kisses, they had become as necessary as air, his lips felt cold without Iruka's upon them.

But as his hitai-ate hit the floor, tangled in the shirt that had just been tugged over his head, he noticed the expression on Iruka's face and went very still. Iruka's eyes were sliding over his bare flesh, but his features were arranged into distressed expression.

Kakashi looked down at himself, horribly self conscious, when he noticed what Iruka must have seen. There were still tiny dots of blood patterning his skin, shed when he had ventured into the rain to rescue Hanabi. Most of the blood had been cleaned off him in the hospital, so that Tsunade could better see the tiny wounds that the rain had caused, but even the small amount of blood that was left staining his chest must have been enough to startle Iruka.

"You're supposed to be resting," Iruka said breathlessly, still staring at the pricks of blood.

"Actually, I'm supposed to be in bed."

His words had the desired effect, Iruka's eyes snapped back to Kakashi's face and his eyes widened incredulously.

Kakashi smirked. But was immediately struck dumb when Iruka licked his lips. He had never known anyone who could steal away his breath so easily before. Iruka's lips were kiss swollen and there was a devastatingly alluring flush in Iruka's cheeks. He felt infinitely proud that he had been the person to do that to Iruka, but he couldn't help but wonder why he was allowed to be there, in Iruka's bedroom; what had he done that allowed him this?

His breath caught when Iruka lifted his hand and brushed over the mottled blood. Some of the redness came away beneath his fingers, crumbling to powder and falling away. Kakashi wrapped his fingers around the chuunin's hand, holding it against his chest, half afraid that Iruka would take his hand away and refuse to touch him again.

With his other hand he reached out and felt for the hair tie in Iruka's hair. He had never seen him with his hair down, it seemed like such a simple thing, but it was suddenly important that Kakashi get to see it. Iruka's head was forced to tip back a little as Kakashi pulled the tie out, so that his face was tipped up to Kakashi's when the silky strands of his hair fell to frame his face. His hair was a cacophony of different browns, and with his hair around his face Iruka's eyes seemed far richer in colour.

"I look like a woman with my hair down," Iruka whispered sheepishly; his breath ghosted over Kakashi's lips.

"You look stunning," Kakashi confessed as he leant in and stole another kiss.

Iruka hummed contentedly when Kakashi combed his fingers through his hair, pressing closer when Kakashi attempted to pull back, capturing his bottom lip between his own and tugging.

Kakashi's hands wouldn't stop moving. They _couldn't_ stop moving. He was sliding his palms down Iruka's sides and fisting his hands in his shirt so that he could push the material up, over Iruka's chest and then over his head.

The kiss broke as the shirt came between their lips, but it allowed Kakashi a moment to appreciate the warmth in the colour of Iruka's skin, and the sculpted definition of Iruka's chest before his eyes met the bruised strip of flesh collaring the chuunin's neck. Another pang of helplessness sounded through him. He hadn't been there to help Iruka, and he doubted he would ever stop feeling guilty about the painful colouring marking his throat.

Iruka gasped when Kakashi leant down and brushed his lips against the bruising. Kakashi had already said he was sorry, but this felt like more of an apology. He dropped feather-light kisses upon Iruka's skin, and flicked his tongue out to lathe at the injury, breathing in the delicate fragrance of jasmine and the fresh scent of fallen leaves that clung to Iruka.

Kakashi wrapped his arms around the chuunin's waist as he stooped down to take his kisses lower. He ran his hands over Iruka's warm, velvety skin and felt hands in his hair when he pressed a kiss to the chuunin's collar bone. Iruka tugged slightly when Kakashi wrapped his lips around one of his nipples.

Only a few hours earlier Kakashi would have given anything for this. He would have done anything to make Iruka want him as much as Kakashi wanted the chuunin, but before the kiss beneath the bridge Kakashi had believed it was hopeless. But now he had Iruka stuttering broken vowels incoherently and pulling on his hair. Nothing Kakashi wanted this much was ever given to him, it seemed too good to be true.

When Iruka grasped a handful of Kakashi's hair and pulled his mouth away from his chest, Kakashi held his breath, waiting for the other shoe to drop. But instead he found himself being kissed to within an inch of his life, and being walked backwards until the back of his knees hit the bed and he tumbled onto the mattress with an insistent push.

He was throbbing, there was so much raw need gathering inside him that he doubted he would survive it. Iruka had nudged him onto his back, mewling into the kiss, and when Iruka crawled over him and rubbed his thigh against Kakashi's crotch, Kakashi cried out and bucked upwards, the sound lost within Iruka and the movement impeded by the weight of the chuunin pinning him down.

His entire awareness had narrowed down to Iruka. Iruka's lips devouring him, Iruka's thigh pressed between his legs, Iruka's erection jutting into him, just below his hip and making arousal tighten almost painfully inside Kakashi.

He raked his fingers down Iruka's spine, exploring the plains of his back until he could slip his hands beneath the waistband of the chuunin's pants and cup Iruka's ass in his palms.

He bucked upwards, and pulled Iruka tighter into him. The friction was pulling all of his nerves to the same point, wringing pleasure out of him. Iruka groaned and broke the kiss, panting for air as he rocked into Kakashi, and Kakashi was falling, holding tightly to Iruka for all he was worth because if he let go now he would be lost forever.

oO0Oo

Iruka had to stop. He had to pull back and calm down because he was about to come. Every muscle in his body was shaking, thrusting him towards completion, but he wasn't ready for this to be over yet.

Kakashi made that sound, halfway between a gasp and a groan, a sound that shot straight down to Iruka's dripping erection like a bolt of lightning, the moment Iruka raised himself onto his hands and knees and broke the contact of their bodies.

Poised over the jounin, Iruka could finally enjoy the sight of what he had done, because _he _had done it, _he_ had turned Hatake Kakashi into the being sprawled beneath him, and the man had never been so alluring. He had a delicate pink flush in his cheeks, lips that were glistening and parted so that he could catch his breath. His eyes were glazed with lust and Iruka had done that, he had put that colour in Kakashi's cheeks, and if it never happened again Iruka would always know that it had happened once.

He had been so engrossed in the sight of Kakashi's aroused expression that when Kakashi reached between his legs and palmed his erection through his pants, Iruka cried out and screwed his eyes shut against the tide of sensation. He was thrust back onto the edge of his orgasm again, shuddering on suddenly unsteady arms as he rocked into Kakashi's hand, unable to stop himself. It felt like lightning was scorching his nerves, knotting his insides together in pleasure.

He forced himself to crawl backwards slightly, so Kakashi's hand could no longer torture him. He hooked his fingers beneath the waistband of the jounin's pants and tugged downwards. Kakashi pressed his shoulders into the mattress and arched up off the bed to allow Iruka to remove the clothing in the way, and just the sight was causing Iruka's balls to tighten.

"Fuck…" Iruka breathed out shakily as he freed Kakashi's heavy erection from the confines of his pants. Kakashi bit out a choked off groan once Iruka had slid his pants far enough down his thighs for Kakashi to be able to kick them off himself.

Iruka slid his hand up the inside of Kakashi's thigh as he leant back over the other man's body and moved in to demand another kiss. Kakashi's hands were suddenly at his hips, shoving his pants down over the curve of his ass and releasing his own aching erection to drip pre-come over Kakashi's stomach. The jounin pushed the waistband halfway down Iruka's thighs before he moved his hands to Iruka's ass and pulled him down, arching up at the same time and sliding against him, the friction just slick enough to be maddening. Iruka found his hips jerking into Kakashi's of their own accord, their hip bones knocking together and their erections sliding past one another.

Iruka didn't know if his eyes were open or closed, but he couldn't see anything. The only things that existed were the liquid flames dancing beneath his skin and the slide of Kakashi's flesh beneath him. But he felt one of Kakashi's hands move from his ass, even as Kakashi bit down slightly on Iruka's swollen lower lip. He felt that hand wriggle between their bodies and then something in Iruka snapped, because Kakashi's fingers were wrapped deliberately around their pulsing flesh, holding their erections together in an earth shattering grip.

Iruka moved his hands over every part of Kakashi that he could touch, thrusting into Kakashi's hand as his grip moved up and down their lengths, forcing strangled moans from Iruka's mouth. He tried to call Kakashi's name, but all sounds he made were swallowed by Kakashi, who was whimpering beautifully along with Iruka, pumping his hand as Iruka's hips jerked.

He managed to plant his elbows near Kakashi's shoulders and bury his hands in his silvery hair, gripping as hard as he could while his orgasm seemed to build up beneath his skin, sizzling just under the surface, dancing along his veins, until all of the heat that had pooled in his groin was ripped out of him. It felt like his entire body exploded, only to snap back together again as he came in violent pulses over Kakashi's stomach. The world went blindingly white for what felt like an eternity before Kakashi threw his head back, pulling his lips away from Iruka's, yelling brokenly towards the ceiling as he tensed beneath Iruka.

Kakashi came between their bodies while Iruka watched his face, still riding the aftershocks of his orgasm. Kakashi's face was nothing but radiant as his body went boneless and he blinked dazedly up at Iruka.

Iruka released a satisfied groan and dropped his head onto Kakashi's shoulder, utterly spent and wonderfully sated. He never wanted to move. He didn't even want to close his eyes, because he wasn't entirely convinced that when he opened them Kakashi would really be there. He had wanted this so badly, now that he had it, he didn't know what he would do if it was taken away again.

Kakashi's arms draped themselves around Iruka, going limp again once Kakashi had encircled Iruka within his reach.

"You're comfortable," Iruka mumbled into the crook of Kakashi's neck, straining to keep his eyes open.

He felt a chuckle rumble through Kakashi's chest.

"So are you," came the softly spoken reply.

oO0Oo

Shinichi twirled the kunai slowly in his hand. He hadn't been able to sleep, not with her still in the room. She was sprawled out in what might have been a provocative position, sleeping atop the bed covers with every inch of her creamy skin on display.

He thought it was slightly foolish of her to fall asleep, since he was just a customer and could easily run off without paying her. He intended to do that anyway, but it was no excuse for her lack of professionalism.

He supposed that he had just bored her enough to send her to sleep.

One good thing about going to his death was that he would never have to go through that again. He had no idea why he had done it in the first place, apart from wanting to experience something else, something other than anger and hatred, before he went back. He wanted something to push all of the other things inside him to the side for a little while. He wanted just a few minutes of rest from the agony that his life had become.

But those few minutes had been filled with awkwardness and embarrassment, but most of all he felt disgusted with himself for losing his virginity to a whore. He felt dirty, but he knew he couldn't blame the filth he was coated in upon the prostitute sprawled behind him. He had become someone he hated, he had turned into someone he didn't recognise. There was something beneath his skin, building up inside him and crushing what was left of his soul. The pressure inside him was made up of all of the crimes he had committed, all of his failures. Zabuza, Jin… losing his virginity to a whore was just another poisonous encounter to squeeze his heart.

He had a futile longing tearing strips in his soul. He wanted to go back. To wanted to go back to a time when he had his brother. Back to a time when he had his best friend, before all of his sins were weights in his bones. He wanted to go back and undo everything he had done, he _wanted_ it so badly that he would give anything…

But he couldn't go back, and knowing that was torture. He hated what he had done for his revenge, he hated who he had let himself become because of Hatake Kakashi. He _hated _so much…

He clasped the kunai in his hand and stared at the tip. There was so much hate and anger and despair welling up inside him… there wasn't enough room for it all, he wasn't big enough to contain so much pain…

Blood ran over the curve of his forearm in a single stripe of glittering red when he pressed the kunai into his skin. It dripped onto the floor, splattering across the dusty floorboards. It stung, and for a split second he was free, because the pain was on the outside rather than the inside, and this pain he could survive, this pain hurt in a different way.

He sliced the kunai through his arm and watched his blood pour out of him. He could imagine that all of his misery was contained in his blood, and it was gushing out of him, leaving him at peace.

It looked pretty too, deep red painted upon dusty floorboards.

"What did you do?"

Shinichi's head snapped up to look at the prostitute, sitting up on the bed and watching him with wide, horrified eyes.

"Oh my god!" she cast about herself, her breasts bouncing as she moved to her knees when she pulled the pillowcase from the pillow, "are you crazy? What the hell is wrong with you? Here…" she held the pillowcase out, "press that against the cut…"

Shinichi flipped the kunai in his palm and leapt. She screeched when he rammed into her and forced her back onto the mattress. The kunai was at her throat, staining her neck with his own blood while he held her down and snarled at her terrified expression.

It had nothing to do with her. She was a whore, who did she think she was? She had no idea what it was like to be Shinichi, to have absolutely nothing left. He was dead already, but his pain was entirely too real. His soul had been poisoned with regrets and he didn't know how to heal himself, he didn't know how to make it all stop, and she had called him crazy for needing to cut some of the pain out of himself… How dare she!

He angled his wrist and bore down onto the kunai, when the moonlight through the window flashed through the tears in her eyes. Shinichi felt dread crash into him, he went cold.

What was he doing?

He could feel her shaking underneath him, tears had leaked out of her eyes and dripped into her hair. Shinichi's blood was oozing from his arm and staining her naked skin.

He leapt away, backing up until his spine hit the wall across the room from her.

The rotten little ball deep inside himself that had once been something like a soul turned to ashes. He had almost killed her, and for what? She hadn't done anything. In the past there had been a Shinichi who despised people who killed without reason, people who simply murdered because they could, because it was easy. There had been a Shinichi who would never frighten someone like that when they had done nothing to deserve it.

He didn't know who that Shinichi was any more. That Shinichi was long gone. The only person left was a soulless monster. And the worst part about it was that Shinichi had done it to himself. He had turned himself into what he had become. And he hated himself.

"Get out," he said, his voice escaped him in a hoarse whisper, but either the whore didn't hear, or she was too terrified to move.

"GET OUT!" Shinichi screamed, feeling furious tears begin to form in his eyes. The prostitute dived from the bed, hurrying naked from the room with wide, afraid eyes.

The kunai clanked loudly when Shinichi dropped it. He was shaking like a leaf. He would give anything to go back in time, to erase the person he had turned into from existence.

But he couldn't. The only place he had left to go was forwards, and in front of him was the only thing he had left, the thing that had become his entire reason for existing.

He had to have revenge. Because if he didn't get it, his existence would be for nothing.

His knees gave out, sending him to the floor. The cut in his arm was still bleeding slightly, but the outer pain was dull now, the pain inside was a thousand times worse.

He dug the heels of his palms into his eyes and tried to quieten his sobs.


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen**

Kakashi woke up not entirely sure where he was. There was the heat of someone's naked body bathing his side, and a muscular arm draped over his chest. Slow, warm breaths were flowing over the sensitive skin of his neck, over his chest and causing goose-bumps to erupt across his flesh. He was disorientated for a moment, but it was a content sort of disorientation that came from knowing that he was completely safe.

He never woke up that way, even in his own home he always woke up alert and suspicious, having spent too many nights sleeping in enemy territory, expecting an attack at any moment. It was ingrained into him, the constant paranoia of being a ninja; to wake up feeling drowsy and content was something entirely new to him.

To wake up beside someone was even stranger, he had never been able to sleep so well with someone so close, but when he registered the heat at his side and the arm stretched across him, he felt so perfectly comfortable that he never wanted to move. He felt as though the missing piece of his life had surreptitiously been slotted into place. With Iruka sprawled across him, curling the length of his body into Kakashi's side, with his face nuzzling into Kakashi's neck, Kakashi felt whole for the first time in his entire life.

Iruka's thigh was insinuated between his legs, and entwined with the other man so completely Kakashi felt like an entire person rather than just a shadow. Kakashi basked in the feeling, breathing in the lingering scent of sex and jasmine. One of his hands was stroking up the length of Iruka's back, mapping out the firm muscles beneath his palm, while his other hand reached across to touch the sable strands of hair that were lying across his chest. He couldn't stop touching the man in his arms, revelling in the satisfaction of having a painful longing so thoroughly fulfilled.

"Mmm…" Iruka curled further into Kakashi, pressing his face into the curve of Kakashi's neck and tightening his arm around his chest. Even still asleep Iruka seemed to want to be closer to him, and it filled Kakashi with something nameless and possessive, knowing that Iruka wanted him, knowing that he could have him, whether he deserved the chuunin or not.

It made the idea of losing him so much more unbearable. He brushed Iruka's hair over the chuunin's bare shoulder, so that he could touch his fingertips to the younger man's neck. He couldn't see the bruise from their positions, but he knew it was there, a vivid strip of different shades of purple.

He could feel Iruka's steady pulse beating beneath his fingertips. The rhythm calmed him enough to think clearly. He didn't understand why the missing-nin had attacked Iruka. He knew why Hanabi had been targeted, she had seen the missing-nin back in the forest when the Sound shinobi had attempted to kidnap Iruka's students; eliminating her made sense since she was the only person who could identify him, but why had he remained to attack Iruka when he must have known that his position was compromised?

Killing Kuromaru and Inuzuka Megumi made sense too: they had been tracking him, and had no doubt found him, but Kakashi couldn't understand why the missing-nin had been watching Gai.

The missing-nin's movements seemed erratic, but Kakashi couldn't help but think that he was missing something. Something that should have been obvious. He could understand why Hanabi, Kuromaru and Megumi had been attacked, but he couldn't connect the dots between Sakura, Iruka and Gai.

Despite the heat of Iruka's body bleeding into his, Kakashi went cold. His hands stilled upon Iruka's back; his breath became lodged in his throat.

_Sakura, Iruka and Gai._

With every ounce of stealth that Kakashi owned, he extricated himself from Iruka's embrace, leaving the chuunin to burrow into the sheets that still carried Kakashi's body heat. Lashes of fear were whipping through him, making him shake uncontrollably.

He had to speak to the Hokage. Leaving Iruka alone, sprawled across the mattress, a vision of golden skin upon white sheets, was like ripping his heart from his chest. But he had to speak to Tsunade.

He'd be back before Iruka woke up.

oO0Oo

Umino Iruka. The name had become synonymous with revenge. Shinichi knew that he wouldn't last against Kakashi himself, and from what Sakura had told him about the Copy-nin's 'Eternal Rival', he was reluctant to target him either. But Iruka… he had already devised a plan to eliminate Iruka. All he needed now was to get back into Konoha.

He had spread out the weapons and medical supplies that he had taken from Sakura upon the rooftop before him, disregarding what he wouldn't need and organising the things he would. On the street below, people were busily setting up market stalls, displaying a myriad of pretty things to attract the eye.

He plucked one of the tiny vials from Sakura's medical pouch and scrutinised the symbols upon the glass. He slipped the vial back into the pouch and secured it to his belt, removing Jin's braid a second later and pulling the hair free from its clasp.

A strange sort of calm had settled upon him. Like the eye of a storm, everything within him was still and waiting. He had frozen on the inside, turning cold and hard by pushing all of the raw emotion inside him so deep within himself that he could almost ignore it.

His fingers bled as he carefully separated the glistening strands, slicing his skin upon the sharp edges of Jin's hair. Jin was making him bleed more in death than he ever had in life.

It seemed fitting somehow.

oO0Oo

The glare of the sun intruding through the window woke him up, but as soon as he screwed his eyes shut tighter and buried his face into the pillow, he knew that something wasn't right. He was naked beneath the sheets, and his pillow carried the scent of Kakashi's hair; the evidence of what they had done the previous night was splattered across Iruka's stomach, dried and itching, but besides Iruka the bed was empty.

He sat up and frowned at the mattress, staring hard as though Kakashi might simply appear before him if he looked carefully enough.

His heart plummeted to his stomach and began to burn. Kakashi had left, he had just left. He had snuck away while Iruka was sleeping, and it hurt unbelievably. Kakashi had always made him feel like more than what he was, Kakashi made him feel worthy for some reason, but lying there, alone in his bed, Iruka felt so pathetically worthless that he could barely breath.

He should have realised that it hadn't meant anything. It was Sharingan Kakashi after all, he could have anyone, and Iruka was just Iruka.

But Kakashi had made him believe that he cared. _"I couldn't think about anything but finding you and making sure you were alright." _He couldn't make himself believe that Kakashi had been lying to him, but where was he? Why had he left? Iruka hadn't wanted to close his eyes for fear that Kakashi would be gone once he opened them, and his fears had been realised.

He felt used and devastated, even as he tried to kindle the hope still flickering inside him. There could be a million explanations, but the one that kept hammering within his chest was the simple fact that he wasn't good enough.

He pressed his face into the pillow, and inhaled the fresh, arousing scent of Kakashi again, wincing when disappointment clamped down on his heart. He was shocked by how much it hurt, a little part of himself had almost expected Kakashi to cast him aside, but he hadn't expected the ache in his chest to be so violent. He had been through some horrific break ups in the past and nothing had hurt him quite this much.

He hadn't realised how many pieces of himself he had given to Kakashi, until Kakashi had left and taken those pieces with him.

oO0Oo

The ANBU standing guard at the Hokage's door slid into Kakashi's path, blocking the way.

"I afraid you can't…" the ANBU trailed off when he met Kakashi's eye and visibly recoiled.

"Move," Kakashi growled, and the ANBU hesitantly obeyed.

He shoved the door open and strode in, a bundle of frayed nerves and helpless anger. Tsunade's head jerked up from the files she was perusing to glare at him when he entered, and Ibiki simply frowned at him from the Hokage's side.

"It's me," Kakashi said simply, "the missing-nin is here because of me."

Tsunade blinked at him, and then sighed, "just figured that out have you?"

Kakashi paused halfway across the room, numbed by surprise.

"I'm sorry Hokage-sama," the ANBU breathed from the doorway, "I know you said that you weren't to be disturbed…"

"It's fine," she waved him away, "close the door behind you."

Kakashi scowled and marched towards the desk Tsunade was seated behind, relieved at finally having someone to aim his anger towards.

"What the hell do you mean?" he demanded, "are you trying to tell me that you knew…"

"Calm down," she rolled her eyes, "we just figured it out ourselves, here…" she tossed him the file she had been pouring over when he walked in, "when you mentioned the rain jutsu that the missing-nin used, I thought I recognised it."

"From where?" Kakashi frowned as he flipped the file open.

"I've heard stories about the Mizukage of Hidden Mist and how he can control the rain," she replied, leaning onto the desk and rubbing her eyes tiredly, "I doubted that the Mizukage himself had come to pay us a visit, but I had Ibiki go through the records that the ANBU have on him and he found that."

Kakashi glanced down at the paper in his hand and felt his entire body jerk when he read the words at the top of the page.

"Momochi Shinichi."

"He was the Mizukage's student," Tsunade said wearily, "until he disappeared. He was also the brother of…"

"Zabuza," Kakashi finished for her, "I didn't know he had a brother."

"Well you do now," Tsunade quipped, "Ibiki's been filling me in on your history with Zabuza. We've come to the conclusion that he's here for revenge."

Kakashi's eye darted up to meet the Hokage's cool gaze.

"I didn't kill Zabuza," he said firmly.

"But you were there when he died," Ibiki said suddenly, "and you incapacitated him, you rendered his arms useless."

"Believe me, he was far from incapacitated," Kakashi replied angrily, "he would have lived, I didn't kill him."

"Well, that's not the point is it?" Tsunade hissed, her voice filled with anger of her own, "his brother obviously believes that you did, and he almost killed Sakura to get back at you."

All of the fight in Kakashi went out of him, he had to clench the file in his hands to stop them from shaking, "you… you can't blame me for that… I…"

She waved her hand again and closed her eyes, "no, I don't. I'm sorry for implying it Kakashi, forgive me."

Kakashi swallowed hard and looked back down at the file in his hands. There wasn't much information, just some vital statistics and an outline of Shinichi's skills. He was obviously suited for intelligence gathering and stealth work, but his chakra levels were severely lacking. One S-rank jutsu and he'd be completely drained. Ordinarily Kakashi wouldn't be worried, but he was well aware of what a drive for vengeance could do to a person, it could push them beyond all limits, it could make them deadly.

"So what now?" Kakashi asked in a voice that sounded much smaller than it usually did.

"The Inuzukas have determined that he left the village shortly after attacking Sakura," Tsunade replied, "and I've had the sentries replaced with Hyuugas so he won't get back into the village without us knowing about it. I've also arranged for guards to protect Sakura at all times while she's incapacitated, and I've sent a message to the Mizukage of Hidden Mist telling him that he'd better clean up his mess."

Kakashi felt himself loosen slightly in relief. The knots inside him had become less tight, but they wouldn't unravel, not until Momochi Shinichi had been dealt with and everyone Kakashi cared about was safe.

oO0Oo

Iruka's hair was still damp from the shower when he tied it up. He had ripped the sheets from the bed and replaced them with clean ones. He hadn't wanted to, because the sheets still smelled like Kakashi, but that was exactly why he had to remove them, even the scent of the jounin made Iruka want to curl up and disappear. He had allowed himself to get his hopes up only to have them crushed.

He had gone past feeling sorry for himself though, he simply felt angry at being lead on. But beneath his anger was nothing more than hurt, like one huge bruise that was still tender and painful to touch.

As he wandered down the stairs and through the main room, past the couch where Kakashi had first taken his mask down in Iruka's presence, into the kitchen where the picture of Team Seven was hanging lopsided on the fridge, he had the disturbing sensation of being watched.

He turned his head, making his movements as inconspicuous as possible as his hands busied themselves with making tea, and glanced out of the open window. He had seen Kakashi trudging home in the rain through the kitchen window; all of the stupid little reminders were beginning to annoy Iruka, just as much as they caught him by surprise and cut into him.

All he could see was the row of houses across the street, standing in a neat line, until a blur of beige streaked past the window a moment before Pakkun's face appeared craning into his kitchen.

"Ah!" Iruka knocked the tea over in surprise, sending scaling water over his hand. He glowered at the pug before thrusting his hand into the sink and twisted the cold water tap on.

"Where is he?" Pakkun clambered through the window and trotted along the counter, his claws clicking loudly with each hurried step.

Iruka snatched up one of his kitchen towels and wrapped it around his hand; the skin had turned a vibrant shade of red and was stinging uncomfortably, "who?" he snapped.

"Don't act dumb," the dog leant over the edge of the worktop, wiggled his butt, and leapt perilously onto the floor, "he didn't come home last night; I can only assume that you lured him here."

"What?" Iruka rounded upon the summon and snarled angrily, "_lured_ him? What the hell is your problem? He was here, but I certainly didn't _lure_ him…"

Pakkun had pressed his nose to the ground and hurried from the kitchen, weaving through the furniture as he made his way towards the staircase.

"He's not here!" Iruka yelled, causing the pug to stop at the foot of the stairs and look back towards Iruka, "he was here, but he's gone." Iruka frowned and turned away, moving back into the kitchen to hide. He couldn't even say when Kakashi had left, or why, although he had his suspicions, but he certainly didn't want to discuss the situation with Kakashi's mutt.

"Where is he then?" Pakkun huffed as he followed Iruka back into the kitchen.

"How should I know?" Iruka muttered as he set about making another cup of tea.

Pakkun seated himself in the middle of the floor and cocked his head, "so," the pug sniffed, "what are you playing at?"

Iruka blinked, before turning to look over his shoulder at the dog, "excuse me?"

"With Kakashi," Pakkun elaborated, "is it because he's famous; something for you to brag about in the mission room?"

"What?" Iruka spat, turning to face the pug.

"Because he really likes you, you know," Pakkun narrowed his eyes up at Iruka, "so if you're just fooling around…"

"How dare you!" Iruka hadn't realised how tightly he was holding the teacup until it shattered in his hand, "are you trying to say that the only reason I like Kakashi is because he's famous?"

"Well it wouldn't be the first time someone has tried to get close to him just because he's the damn Copy-Ninja!" Pakkun hollered, jumping to his feet and baring his teeth angrily, "and until you, no one had managed it! But for some reason he cares about you, and if this is just a bit of fun for you then I swear I'll…"

"Wait," Iruka held his hand up and blinked down at the dog, breathing in deeply and replaying that last sentence in his mind, "…he cares about me?"

Pakkun looked at him as though he had sprouted an extra head, but Iruka hardly noticed, he was too preoccupied with biting his lip to fight away the smile that wanted to break out upon his face. He still didn't know why Kakashi had just vanished from his bed, but if Pakkun thought that he cared about Iruka, surely there was some truth to that. Despite Iruka's confusion, hope had started to bloom inside him again.

"The two of you are as bad as each other," Pakkun sighed irritably.

"He left though," Iruka swallowed, "before I woke up, he didn't even leave a note or…"

Pakkun snorted, "you obviously don't know him very well."

Iruka frowned, "what is that supposed to mean?"

Pakkun's face twitched, and it took Iruka a moment to realise that the pug's squished face was attempting to smile, "he has a tendency to go missing. I'm surprised you haven't noticed; he's always disappearing. Eventually he'll turn up with some ridiculous excuse, like he had to rescue a kitten from a rabid turtle or he was kidnapped by pygmies and tortured with massage oils."

Iruka couldn't stop a fond smile from overtaking his face. Naruto had told him all about Kakashi's outlandish excuses for being late, and there was something heart-warming about the thought of Kakashi making up crazy stories to excuse his absence. It was just so inherently Kakashi that Iruka couldn't help but smile.

Pakkun frowned up at him, scrutinising his expression.

"What?" Iruka asked defensively, letting his smile fall away.

The pug sighed and shrugged, "just so long as you know that I'll kill you if you hurt him."

Iruka quirked an eyebrow, "what would you do? Gnaw my ankles?"

"Hey!" Pakkun growled, "don't underestimate me! And I know quite a few nin-dogs who would be less than pleased if Kakashi got his heart broken. One of them is big enough to swallow you whole!"

Iruka nodded, "I get the picture. You don't have to worry."

"Hmph," Pakkun dropped his butt back to the floor and licked his lips, "so long as we understand each other."

Iruka smiled and turned back to the worktop to scoop up the shards of his broken teacup.

oO0Oo

Kakashi tried to swallow the panic that was bubbling up in his chest. He knew he was overreacting, but he felt a desperate need to be close to Iruka, to make sure that the chuunin was safe. It wasn't like Iruka couldn't take care of himself, but Kakashi's fear of losing him was totally unreasonable. He should have demanded that Iruka be given an ANBU guard as well as Sakura.

With a mounting sense of nervous impatience Kakashi rushed towards the door to Iruka's house and let himself in, hoping Iruka would still be asleep so that he could crawl back into bed with him.

He jerked to a halt when he entered the main room, and frowned at the sight he was presented with. Pakkun was the first to notice him; the pug was curled up beneath the coffee table, lapping at the bowl set in front of him.

"Where have you been?" Pakkun barked.

Iruka looked up from where he was sitting at the table, frowning over a pile of papers with a red pen in his hand, and smiled when he saw Kakashi.

Kakashi blinked in confusion, wondering what Pakkun was doing in Iruka's house, before he noticed the liquid in the bowl in front of the pug.

"Is that coffee?" he scowled.

"Yes it is," Iruka replied, "I thought he deserved some after you left him to worry about you all night."

"What?" Kakashi blinked again, "he isn't allowed caffeine!"

"Oi!" Pakkun cried, "leave him alone! If anyone should be annoyed, it's Iruka. What were you playing at, running off this morning? You didn't even leave the poor guy a note to let him know that you didn't regret what had happened last night!"

Kakashi almost staggered back a step, thoroughly confused and horrified that he might have caused Iruka to think such a thing. He looked across the room at the chuunin, who had turned a brilliant shade of red and was studiously not looking at Kakashi.

"Is that what you thought?" he asked, "that I regretted last night?"

The colour of Iruka's face deepened, "I… wasn't sure what to think. I just woke up and you weren't there…"

"I'm sorry," Kakashi breathed, feeling completely wretched, "I went to see the Hokage and I didn't want to wake you."

Iruka smiled sheepishly, "oh…"

"What did you go to see the Hokage for?" Pakkun rasped.

Kakashi scratched the back of his head, trying to put off the moment when he would have to explain the situation to Iruka. The chuunin could have died, and it was Kakashi's fault. That fact hadn't really sunk in, but he could see the bruise around Iruka's neck, and he knew that it was there because he cared about Iruka. The chuunin would be perfectly safe if he had nothing to do with him, and he was terrified that if he told Iruka why Momochi Shinichi had attacked him, that Iruka wouldn't want to see him again.

"Sit down," Iruka smiled as he rose from his seat, "I'll make some tea."

oO0Oo

Shinichi dropped off the rooftop and landed behind one of the market stalls that filled the main street of Otafuku Gai. Two Konoha shinobi had wandered into the marketplace, and their conversation had carried up to the rooftop Shinichi had been perched upon.

"Why would they replace all of the sentries as well though?" one of them asked, "something big is going on."

"Are you complaining about the fact that we were given the day off, Hayase?"

"No, I'm just curious! Why would the Hokage replace us and all of the sentries with Hyuugas?"

"I don't know, but I'm just glad I don't have to sit next to that bloody gate all day."

"Izumo, we could be going to war?"

"War with who? Don't be ridiculous."

Shinichi sauntered along behind them, watching them peruse the market stalls that they passed by. He had a plan to take down Iruka, but he hadn't thought of a plan to get back into Hidden Leaf. He wouldn't be able to get past the Hyuugas unseen, so he would have to find a way to fool them.

The one called Izumo stopped at a stall selling an array of small glass sculptures that caught the light in flashes of colour. Shinichi weaved past collections of fabric and tables filled with jewellery and watched the shinobi pick up a glass conch shell, turning it so that the light angled through it changed colour.

He might be able to get back into Konoha after all, but he would need those two ninjas to do it.

oO0Oo

"Pakkun, do you want some more coffee?" Iruka asked as he placed a cup of tea on the coffee table in front of Kakashi.

"No," Kakashi yelped, "Iruka, you haven't seen him on a caffeine high, please don't give him any more."

Iruka stifled a smile at the pleading expression on Kakashi's face. The jounin had pulled his mask down and Iruka could hardly bear to look away. He wondered if the novelty would ever wear off, but he couldn't imagine ever getting used to the sight of Kakashi's face.

"Okay," he replied as he sank down onto the cushions beside Kakashi, "so why did you need to speak to the Hokage? Was it about the missing-nin?"

He watched as Kakashi swallowed, and frowned at the nervous expression the jounin gave him. The sight made him want to cuddle the man, he had to clasp his hands together in his lap to stop himself.

"His name is Momochi Shinichi," Kakashi replied quietly.

Iruka frowned, wondering if that was supposed to mean anything to him, he already knew that the boy was called Shinichi, but Pakkun appeared suddenly from beneath the table and gawked up at Kakashi.

"What?" the pug demanded, "Momochi?"

Kakashi sighed and nodded, and Iruka frowned from Pakkun to Kakashi, feeling a little lost.

"I don't understand," he shook his head slightly.

"He had a brother," Kakashi said, "called Zabuza. Naruto might have told you about him, we were attacked by him on a mission to Wave Country."

Iruka's eyes widened. He could recall Naruto describing that mission, with many embellishments and exaggerations about how he had singlehandedly saved his entire team, but despite Naruto's version of events Iruka had still come to understand that the mission had been incredibly dangerous, and that this Zabuza had been a missing-nin who had tried to kill them.

"Shinichi wants revenge for his brother's death," Kakashi said, looking down at his lap, "that's why he attacked you and Sakura, because he thinks I killed his brother."

Iruka's entire body went rigid. He couldn't breath suddenly, his chest was full to the brim with raw anger. He had felt _sorry_ for Shinichi, shocked by how much pain he had seen in the boy's eyes, but he hadn't known then that Shinichi was planning to take that pain out on Kakashi, and the mere thought made Iruka grind his teeth together.

From what Kakashi had said, Iruka gathered that the jounin hadn't actually killed Shinichi's brother. But even if he had, Shinichi had no right to hurt Kakashi, not for simply doing his job, especially not if Zabuza had attacked them first. He clenched his hands into fists when he remembered Kakashi's stricken expression when Sakura had been brought into the hospital, and the idea that Shinichi was planning to use Iruka to hurt Kakashi made him shake in pure rage.

"I'm sorry," Kakashi said suddenly.

"What?" Iruka snapped, and then winced when he realised how angry his voice sounded.

"This is my fault," Kakashi said, "he wants to kill you because I care about you, I'm sorry."

Iruka felt the tension flow out of him and a smile tug at his lips, "you care about me?"

Kakashi blinked up at him, "I thought you knew that."

Iruka grinned, "just making sure," he replied, "I care about you too… don't apologise. It's not your fault."

Kakashi's lips twitched upwards, as though he was trying to suppress a smile.

"If you're going to get all mushy, I'll need more coffee!" Pakkun called from beneath the coffee table.

oO0Oo

Kakashi didn't know what to make of the unexpected truce between Iruka and Pakkun. Just the previous night Kakashi had been convinced that Pakkun didn't like the chuunin, he was slowly beginning to learn that he would never be on even footing when it came to Iruka, but it wasn't something he was particularly bothered by.

He was feeling too anxious to be pleased by the situation however. It was just beginning to hit him, the amount of suffering that had occurred, and all of it could be traced back to him. He couldn't erase the memory of Tsume sobbing in the rain from his mind, or the sound of Hanabi's voice as she screamed for Iruka back in the park. He knew that the image of Sakura, lifeless and bloody, would haunt him for the rest of his life, and Kuromaru and Inuzuka Megumi were dead, all because a missing-nin wanted to hurt him.

He knew, on one level, that it wasn't his fault. He couldn't be held accountable for Shinichi's actions. But that didn't stop guilt from curdling inside him. He had to put a stop to it; the idea of Sakura or Gai dying for something as petty as revenge, or the thought of losing Iruka, he knew he wouldn't survive that. He had to find a way to keep them safe, but he couldn't be in three places at once, and he didn't trust anyone else to protect them.

"Kakashi," Iruka said, "does anyone know where Shinichi is right now? Is he still in the village?"

Kakashi shook his head, "he's not, and he won't get back in without the sentries noticing. The Hokage has sent a message to Hidden Mist too, to let them know that one of their shinobi is running around unsupervised."

Iruka looked dubious, but he sat back against the cushions and gave Kakashi a small smile. The sight made Kakashi's insides quiver slightly.

"I hope you know that I'm not letting you out of my sight until this is over," Iruka said.

"I'm not the one he's targeting," Kakashi replied.

"That's not the point," Iruka said as he leant forwards to pick up his teacup, "he might change his mind and go after you instead, you're the one he wants revenge upon, you… damn, I have to be in the mission room this afternoon! I forgot!"

Kakashi smirked, "you could call in sick."

Iruka blinked and looked at Kakashi, and he could see the chuunin actually thinking about it as his eyes flowed over Kakashi's face, but Iruka shook himself after a moment and rolled his eyes in exasperation, "You're going to be a bad influence on me aren't you?"

Kakashi tried to make himself look as innocent as possible, and only succeeded in making Iruka double up in laughter. The sound was delicious, and it infected Kakashi with laughter of his own. For the first time since he had found out about Momochi Shinichi and his thirst for revenge, Kakashi felt truly relaxed.

oO0Oo

The Leaf-nin had bought the glass conch shell. It had been wrapped delicately in brown paper and slipped into one of the shinobi's pockets, handled as carefully as possible. Shinichi watched him sporadically pat his pocket, as though checking that he still had it as the two Leaf shinobi walked out of Otafuku Gai and leapt into the trees, speeding towards Konoha.

Shinichi followed, careful to remain far enough behind them to be undetectable, but close enough that he wouldn't fall too far behind. His heart was racing in his chest, anticipating the moment he would be back in Konoha and could begin putting his plan into action. The trickle of excitement he felt stirred up the plague of emotions he had been trying to ignore, making him feel sick under the weight of them. He clasped his arm when he landed on the next branch, and pressed his fingers into the cut he had sliced into his arm the night before. The physical pain shocked him back to the present, clearing his head.

He wanted to go home. More than anything. But he had gone past redemption now, he could never go home; there was no way off the path that he had chosen for himself.

He leapt onto the next branch, thrusting his hand into Sakura's medical pouch and wrapping his fingers around a vial of sedative as he gained upon the two shinobi he was following. He had begun to despise trees. How anyone could go sailing through them like ninja monkeys was ridiculous, it was only his natural sense of balance and his ability to channel chakra that kept him attached to the branches.

The Leaf ninja had come to a halt, looking behind them suspiciously having sensed that they were being followed, but Shinichi didn't reveal himself from behind the leaves, he simply dipped a collection of senbon into the vial of sedative and let the thin metal needles fly though the air.

oO0Oo

Iruka pushed Kakashi into the wall, pressing his entire body into the jounin's and sliding his tongue over Kakashi's. Pakkun was grumbling on the doorstep outside, but every time Iruka and Kakashi attempted to follow him out they became distracted.

"I'm going to be late," Iruka mumbled against Kakashi's mouth, unable to pull his lips away or move his hands from the firmness of the jounin's ass.

"Good," Kakashi replied, sucking on Iruka's lower lip, "tell them it was an exercise in patience."

"Is that what you told your students every time you were late?" he gasped when Kakashi moved his tongue over his jaw, clamping his lips over the lobe of Iruka's ear.

"No," the jounin breathed, sending a delightful shiver straight down Iruka's spine, "told them I was saving kittens…"

"Or being kidnapped by pygmies…" Iruka smiled, sliding his hands over Kakashi until he could hold his hips still and press him more firmly against the wall.

"Pygmies?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow but Iruka simply dived upon his lips again and rubbed himself against him, groaning when the friction their bodies were creating threatened to make him even later. If they didn't let go of one another soon then Iruka probably wouldn't make it out of the house at all.

One of Kakashi's hands wrapped around the back of his neck, preventing him from moving away, while one of his thighs slid between Iruka's and it was all he could do not to grind down into the jounin's leg and call in sick after all.

"OI!" Pakkun bellowed from the doorway, "all the coffee in the world isn't enough to make me put up with this! Kakashi! Put him down!"

"Did you hear something?" Kakashi chuckled as he licked Iruka's lips.

"Nnn…" Iruka pressed his lips together in a determined line and forced himself to pull away, "I need to go… don't pout, it makes me want to kiss you more…"

"Good," Kakashi smirked, leaning in for another kiss, but Iruka simply gave him a quick peck and stepped away.

"You _are_ a bad influence," Iruka smiled, committing the way Kakashi's face flushed pink when he was aroused to memory.

Kakashi grinned rakishly and pulled his mask up, covering that wonderful flush and his kiss swollen lips. Iruka found that his thoughts became more cohesive when he didn't have to look at that face. He sighed deeply, strengthening his resolve, and strode towards the open door where Pakkun was glowering darkly.

Kakashi ambled along reluctantly behind him, and waited as Iruka pulled the door shut.

"I'll walk you to the mission room," Kakashi said.

Iruka turned to frown at him, "I was going to walk you to your apartment."

Kakashi blinked in surprise at him, before his eyes crinkled up happily, "there's no need, I have Pakkun to follow me around but you'll have to walk to the mission room by yourself if I don't come with you."

"But it would be better for my peace of mind if I actually see you safely into your apartment," Iruka argued.

"Shinichi isn't actually targeting me…"

"He's not actually in the village either…"

"For crying out loud!" Pakkun bellowed, "you!" he glared up at Iruka, "go to work! And you!" he growled at Kakashi, "home. Now. No arguments."

Iruka could see Kakashi pouting beneath his mask, "you see what happens when you give him caffeine?"

Iruka shrugged, "he doesn't seem any different than usual."

Pakkun actually jumped into the air in agitation, "let's go!"

Kakashi smiled at Iruka, "I'll see you later then?"

Iruka nodded, beaming back at the jounin, "bye."

He had a strange urge to giggle as he wandered down the street, occasionally glancing over his shoulder to where Kakashi was heading in the opposite direction. He was full of gleeful energy that made him want to race through the street, but he made himself walk calmly towards the mission room, humming cheerfully and tunelessly under his breath.

oO0Oo

When the one who had bought the glass ornament began to stir, Shinichi gave him another dose of sedative and dropped him near to the tree his friend was tied to. He stood back to survey the traps he had set, crudely made but effective nonetheless, and nodded in satisfaction when he determined that none of them could be seen.

He spun back towards the shinobi tied to the tree. Hayase. He had started groaning low in his throat, wriggling weakly as he began to wake up. Shinichi snatched the kunai he had taken from Sakura from the holster on his belt and strode back across the clearing towards him.

"Wha… Izumo?" Hayase coughed, "where…" his eyes went wide when he woke up fully, and saw Shinichi standing in front of him.

"Who are you?" he glared, straining against his bonds, "what do you think you're doing?"

Rather than reply, Shinichi held the tip of the kunai up to Hayase's chest, and applied a trickle of pressure.

"What do you want?" Hayase yelped, trying futilely to shift away from the blade.

"I want you to scream," Shinichi replied, pushing the kunai into the shinobi's flesh, "loudly."

Hayase didn't make a sound at first, until Shinichi had bared his ribs and started to hack away at the cartilage connecting the bones to the sternum. The noise started out as a whimper, before he began to make breathless cries, eventually descending into screams as Shinichi wrapped his fingers around a rib and pulled on the bone with a resounding crunch. But the sounds were only white noise to Shinichi, who had retreated into himself, as though he could pretend that he was somewhere else. He didn't see the crimson stains on his hands, or the raw texture of the Leaf-nin's insides, the shade of cartilage and bloody bones and the movement of his ribcage as he shuddered with each breath.

But he registered the screams on some level, because a deep sense of satisfaction swept through him when he realised that his plan might work after all.

oO0Oo

The further from Iruka Kakashi got, the more nervous he felt. It had been easy to forget about the threat to those he cared about when he was kissing Iruka. But now that they had gone in opposite directions the slow ebb of fear that had been following him around returned, and his stride slowed to a crawl.

Pakkun trotting along beside him, turning his head in every direction and peering into dark corners and beneath bushes whenever he could. By the time they had reached Kakashi's apartment he was a bundle of raw nerves yet again thanks to his own train of thought and Pakkun's paranoia.

"You should set more traps," Pakkun said as he leapt onto the bed, "around the door and the window so no one can get in."

"I don't need to set more traps," Kakashi sighed as he kicked the door shut behind him, "anyway… what was all that about back in Iruka's house? I thought you didn't like him."

"What's not to like?" Pakkun asked as he rolled onto his back and spread dog hair all over Kakashi's quilt, "he makes good coffee."

Kakashi had no idea what to make of it, but he decided not to question him further, so long as they were getting on, Kakashi was happy. He yanked off his hitai-ate as he pulled a drawer open, searching for a towel so that he could take a shower, when the door burst open, banging loudly against the wall.

Pakkun was on his feet and growling before Kakashi knew what had happened, but before he could tell the pug to shut up he was engulfed in a green hug and deafened by a desperate wail.

"Gai!" Kakashi frowned, "get off me."

The arms around him simply tightened, and Gai's wail increased in volume, "the Hokage has informed me of the situation, my Eternal Rival!"

"Gai! What are you talking about?" Kakashi croaked as he tried to wriggle free of Gai's hold.

"Why did you not inform me of the plot to defeat you Kakashi?" Gai cried, gripping him by the shoulders and holding him at arms length so that he could properly scrutinise Kakashi's masked face, "Hokage-sama has let me know of the missing-nin's misguided quest for revenge! He shall never succeed my Eternal Rival! I swear to do all I can to thwart his schemes and protect you and your precious Iruka from…"

Kakashi had begun to tune Gai out, as he had a tendency to do, but he caught the slip of Iruka's name and slapped his hand over Gai's ranting mouth to silence him.

"How do you know about Iruka?" Kakashi asked slowly, removing his hand from Gai's mouth so that he could answer. He hadn't told Gai who he had feelings for, he hadn't told anyone, and it was still bothering him how Momoichi Shinichi knew about Iruka in the first place.

Gai looked stricken. He released Kakashi's shoulders as though the touch of Kakashi was hot enough to burn, and backed up towards the door, holding his hands up in surrender.

"It was all Hanabi-chan's idea…"

oO0Oo

Shinichi's mind had begun to thaw by the time the first Hyuuga arrived. The dwindling screams from behind him were painful to listen to, like sandpaper rubbed upon an open wound, but he couldn't tune them out any longer, he could only grind his teeth and wait.

The Hyuuga dropped from the branches, landing upon the forest floor a few feet away from Shinichi and his bleeding hostage. Shinichi watched him look around, absorbing his surroundings, and bit down on a smirk. His byakugan wouldn't help him if he was only searching for chakra.

The Hyuuga rushed forwards, flying towards Shinichi, but Shinichi simply stood his ground and let the smirk appear on his face the moment the Hyuuga ran into one of the strands of Jin's hair that Shinichi had tied all around the clearing. The hair, pulled taught at ankle level and hidden by the foliage, had cut straight through flesh and bone and sent the Hyuuga falling to the ground, yelling out in pain. Despite the man's supposedly superior eyesight, he hadn't seen that single strand of hair, devoid of any chakra, until he had run straight into it.

Shinichi chuckled, but the sound didn't sound like him. He sounded wrong, but he couldn't make himself stop laughing. He wasn't amused, deep inside himself he was horrified, but it still didn't stop laughter from erupting from his mouth.

He turned back to Hayase, still struggling feebly but quickly dying, and tore off his Konoha hitai-ate. He tied the fabric around his own forehead before he pulled the kunai out of Hayase's chest and launched it at the Hyuuga behind him. He waited until the gurgling sounds died down before he grabbed the limp body of the unconscious shinobi lying near the tree, and heaved him over his shoulders.

He was careful to step over Jin's hair when he passed the Hyuuga who was quickly bleeding to death from the wound to his neck that Shinichi had made with the kunai, and moved swiftly through the trees until he stumbled into a group of imposing Konoha shinobi, all with dead opal eyes and bulging veins.

"The missing-nin!" Shinichi gasped, clutching the body draped over him, "he has Hayase! And Izumo's been poisoned, I have to get him to hospital!"

Right on cue another pained wail echoed through the forest, and the Hyuugas jerked in the direction Shinichi had come from, frowning in concentration as the veins in their faces throbbed.

"Go," one of them hissed at Shinichi, "hurry, and inform the Hokage as soon as you get to the hospital."

Shinichi nodded and dashed past the Leaf-ninja, staggered that he had actually gotten away with it and writhing in dark glee.

oO0Oo

"Hey, Iruka," Genma dropped into the chair next to Iruka and draped an arm over the chuunin's shoulders, "can I have a word?"

Iruka glanced at the special-jounin out of the corner of his eye, "what is it?" he asked suspiciously.

"I wanted to uh…" he pulled his arm back and looked sheepishly at the floor, "I wanted to apologise… for going off the deep end over that missing-nin."

"Huh?" Iruka's head jerked round to face him, "what about the missing-nin?"

Genma frowned at him, "in Otafuku Gai… the one who… the one who poisoned Gai."

"Oh!" Iruka sagged in his seat. His mind had immediately jumped to Shinichi, and he had worried that there was more to it, that there was something he had missed when Genma began talking about him; he had completely forgotten about the mission to Otafuku Gai to find Genma. "Don't worry about it. It all worked out in the end."

"I should find Kakashi too," Genma muttered, "and thank him, but he'll only rub it in my face for the next ten years…" he suddenly glanced up surreptitiously at Iruka, "speaking of Kakashi…"

Iruka froze, thinking back to what Pakkun had said about bragging in the mission room, and pressed his lips together.

"I had a word with Suzume yesterday," he grinned mischievously, "you'll never guess what she told me…"

Iruka bristled, turning to glare at Genma who just continued to grin.

"Iruka and Kakashi, sitting in a tree…" Genma giggled, narrowly ducking the pencil that Iruka threw at him.

"Shut up!" Iruka snapped, turning back to the scrolls in front of him, "it's none of your business."

"Aww, poor Iruka," Genma sighed, draping his arm across Iruka's shoulders once again, "unrequited love is a bitch isn't it?"

Iruka frowned and peered at Genma, "huh?"

"I mean… falling for the straightest guy in the village," Genma tsk'ed, "you know he reads heterosexual porn, don't you? Although, you could use that jutsu of Naruto's…"

Iruka shrugged Genma's arm off him, trying to hide a smug smirk as he bowed over his paperwork.

"You know I'm always here for you though," the special-jounin wiggled his eyebrows, "for a shoulder to cry on… a lap to sit on… a…"

"Genma," Iruka rolled his eyes, "shut up."

The doors to the mission room burst open, sending the scrolls that Iruka had been sorting scattering across the floor. The room was awash with ninja, a group of Hyuugas barged through the room, followed by a dark blur of ANBU.

"What's going on?" Genma frowned.

Aoba glided absently across the room, watching the group of Hyuugas march into the Hokage's office with an air of curiosity.

"Something about a missing-nin," he said.

Time ground to a halt as Iruka looked up at Aoba, eyes wide in shock. He was breathless; Shinichi had only just left the village, he couldn't be back yet. It occurred to him that he should be worried about his own safety, Shinichi was trying to hurt Kakashi through the people he cared about, and Iruka knew now that Kakashi did care for him. But his worry for himself was overshadowed by his fear for Kakashi. What if Shinichi had changed his mind and decided to go straight for him rather than for Iruka?

"I have to go," Iruka gasped, jumping to his feet and leaping over the table.

"Iruka!" Genma cried, "your shift isn't over yet!"

But Iruka was already skidding through the doorway and out of the mission room. He would kill Shinichi before he'd let him harm Kakashi, no matter how much the missing-nin was grieving.

oO0Oo

Kakashi grabbed his pillow and tried to smother himself with it. Gai wouldn't leave, he seemed to think that Kakashi was in need of a spandex-clad bodyguard and had taken it upon himself to regale Kakashi with all of his past accomplishments just in case that would persuade Kakashi to let him hang around to protect him. He had tried to ignore Gai, he had disappeared into the shower to get away from him, but the jounin had been waiting for him when he emerged, and he had tried to go to sleep, but he couldn't block out the sound of Gai's voice, even with a pillow over his face.

Pakkun had flopped himself lethargically across Kakashi's chest, and he could feel the pug's head moving back and forth as he followed Gai's pacing across the room.

"Gai…" Kakashi wailed, "if you're going to stay, could you at least be quiet?"

"Of course my Eternal Rival!" Gai boomed, "you should have told me that you wished to sleep, you must be weary after wooing your precious person! Have no fear, I shall…"

"Gai!" Kakashi yelled into the pillow, "do you want me to beg?"

Before Gai could answer, the door rattled within its frame as someone pounded upon the wood. Gai was in a defensive pose the moment the sound was made, and Pakkun had leapt up onto all fours on top of Kakashi's chest, so that his paws were digging painfully into Kakashi's ribs.

"Ow…" Kakashi muttered as he peered out from beneath the pillow, well aware that no one would listen to anything he said, "you do realise that my enemies aren't likely to knock when they come to kill me."

Oblivious, Gai dived for the door handle and yanked the door open with a flourish, revealing Iruka standing just outside, breathing heavily and wringing his hands together.

"Iruka-sensei!" Gai beamed, causing Iruka to jump backwards when the jounin tried to sweep him up into his arms.

"G-Gai," Iruka frowned in confusion, "I… uh… where's Kakashi?"

Pakkun yelped when Kakashi sprang into a sitting position, dislodging the pug from his speck upon his chest, sending him sprawling into his lap.

"I'm here! Gai, you can go now!"

Gai's grin widened, until it had taken on almost blinding proportions, "of course my Eternal Rival! I would never dream of standing in the way of such youthful love! Pakkun," Gai strode across the room and swept the dog up from Kakashi's lap, "it is time for us to depart."

"What?" Pakkun flailed, "put me down! What are you talking about? Hey!"

Kakashi goggled as Gai winked at him and then strode from the room, bowing to Iruka as he passed and clutching a writhing Pakkun in his massive hands. Kakashi could have kissed him, he had never been more grateful to the Green Beast when the door flew shut and he was left alone with Iruka, with no interfering pug in sight.

"Occasionally Gai will do something that reminds me why I'm friends with him," Kakashi sighed happily and looked up at Iruka. The chuunin was still slightly out of breath, as though he had run all the way to Kakashi's apartment. He was staring at Kakashi, as though shocked to see him, when he pushed himself forwards and crawled onto the bed.

"Iruka?" Kakashi was slightly worried for all of five seconds, before the chuunin slid over him and pushed him back onto the pillow, crushing his lips in a desperate kiss. All thoughts flew from Kakashi's mind as he was caught between the mattress and Iruka's body, with Iruka's lips applying bruising pressure to his own.

Kakashi had no idea what to do with his hands, they wanted to be everywhere at once but the insistence of Iruka's tongue thrusting into his mouth was destroying his fine motor skills, all he could do was wrap his arms around the chuunin's back and clutch like his life depended on it. He was sprawled at an uncomfortable angle upon the bed, but when he shifted his hips into a better position he suddenly found Iruka positioned between his legs and rolling his hips, making Kakashi groan wantonly and clutch harder.

With a gasp Iruka broke the kiss, and glanced between their bodies at the position they had found themselves in. Kakashi could feel the chuunin hardening between his legs, and the evidence of Iruka's arousal caused all of the blood in Kakashi's body to rush to his groin.

Iruka looked back into his face with glazed eyes, still breathing quickly and slowly thrusting his hips, but despite the stimulation, Kakashi could remember the way Iruka had been banging on his door now that he could see the chuunin's face, how Iruka had stared at him for a moment before jumping him.

"Iruka?" Kakashi breathed, "are you alright?"

"Hm?" Iruka licked his lips absently, gazing at his face, and he was mildly embarrassed by the whimper that escaped him at the sight.

Iruka blinked, his eyes seemed to clear of most of the desire that had been clouding them, "Shinichi's back," he said simply, going incredibly still and tense.

Kakashi frowned, trying to will coherency back into his brain as he processed what Iruka had said, "what?"

He pushed himself into a sitting position, causing Iruka to crawl backwards until he was kneeling between Kakashi's sprawled legs. Kakashi swallowed, he could see the outline of Iruka's cock though his pants, and he had to shake himself and force his eyes up to the chuunin's face.

"What do you mean?" he asked, "how do you know he's back?"

He'd have to keep Iruka with him. He wasn't about to let the chuunin out of his sight if a missing-nin who was out for his blood had found his way back into the village. He should have insisted on that ANBU guard after all, he couldn't let anything happen to Iruka.

"I…" Iruka bit his lip sheepishly, "I don't know… not for sure, but some of the Hyuugas who were on sentry duty came through the mission room, and someone mentioned a missing-nin… I just thought…"

Kakashi released the breath he had been holding and flopped back onto the bed. He had been terrified for a moment, but there was no reason to panic. If the missing-nin was back in the village then the Hokage would inform him, and what Iruka had heard didn't necessarily mean that Shinichi had come back. He was still worried, but he didn't know how he would ever stop worrying about Iruka, the threat wasn't as near as he had thought and relief had made his bones heavy.

"I overreacted didn't I?" Iruka said awkwardly.

Kakashi shook his head, "c'mere."

He sat up, wrapped his arms around Iruka's waist and pulled him back down with him, "nothing wrong with a little paranoia," he murmured into Iruka's hair, smiling contentedly.

"Well," Iruka sighed into his neck, "at least now I can keep an eye on you."

Iruka shifted slightly, adjusting his weight, and the movement rubbed the chuunin's abdomen against Kakashi's stirring erection. He gasped at the pressure and his hips jerked involuntarily. He had spread his legs further, bending his knees before he knew what he was doing.

Iruka raised his head and smirked. On any other person his expression would have looked evil, but it merely caused heat to flood through Kakashi and made him desperate for some sort of release. He leant up and caught Iruka's lips with his own, smoothing his tongue across the seam of his lips.

"Kakashi…" Iruka breathed, letting his hands roam freely over Kakashi's chest, "I… I _really_ want to…"

Kakashi angled his head and nipped at the chuunin's neck, "to what?" His fingers were crawling over Iruka's flak jacket until he had located the zip and could slide the material apart.

Iruka swallowed, shuddering slightly, "to… to…"

When Kakashi turned his head to kiss Iruka's cheek, he saw the red flare to Iruka's face and smirked.

"To fuck?" he asked, repressing a chuckle.

Iruka squeaked, "that's… one way of putting it… can I…"

"You can do anything you want," Kakashi replied honestly, arching his hips off the bed and throwing his head back against the pillow.

oO0Oo

Iruka buried his face in Kakashi's neck and muffled his groan into Kakashi's skin. The jounin needed to stop _moving_ beneath him, he was going to make the idea of sex a moot point if Kakashi kept rubbing against him.

Just the idea of having sex with Kakashi was exciting him far more than was healthy. He bit down on his neck, inciting a surprised cry and a wonderful shudder out of the jounin. He raised himself up onto his hands and knees and caught his lip between his teeth as he fisted his hands in Kakashi's shirt and yanked it up over his head.

Kakashi shook his hair out of his face when the material had passed over his head, and Iruka watched as his hair fell into his eyes like spilt moonlight. Kakashi was captivating; Iruka was surprised no one noticed, he hid behind his lazy slouch so well that it was difficult to see the magnificence of Kakashi behind it.

And it was all his. It was all Iruka's. No one else got to see Kakashi like this, and Iruka mentally chastised himself for wanting everyone to know, to see it just once and then envy him for the rest of their lives because he had what they wanted.

He dipped his head and pressed his lips to the centre of Kakashi's chest, stroking his hand over Kakashi's stomach and feeling the way his muscles twitched beneath his palm.

"Iruka," Kakashi purred, "tell me something…"

"What?" Iruka asked, moving his lips against Kakashi's skin.

"Do you have any lube?"

Iruka blinked, and lifted his head up to look into Kakashi's face, "…no."

Kakashi, who had been craning his neck to look at Iruka, dropped his head back onto the pillow, "oh."

"Don't you?" Iruka asked, with a note of hysteria in his voice, because he was achingly hard and had his mind set on more than just heavy petting.

Kakashi shook his head, eyes screwed shut.

Iruka blinked again and glanced around him at Kakashi's spartan apartment, "you don't have _any_?"

The jounin opened his eyes, looking at Iruka with a mixture of amusement and exasperation, "I've never needed any before."

Iruka frowned, having some difficulty concentrating with an insistent throbbing between his legs, "never?"

Kakashi shook his head and smiled fondly, "nope."

"You mean… you've never…"

"Not with a man, no," Kakashi replied.

"Oh…" Iruka swallowed, "_ohhh!_" He dropped his head onto Kakashi's chest and groaned loudly, feeling his body temperature spike by a few degrees. He was having difficulty breathing, the air in the room seemed thick and hot, he couldn't get enough of it into his lungs. Kakashi had never… so Iruka would be the first to…

"Don't move," Iruka rasped, "just… give me a minute to calm down… if you move I'll… have an accident."

He could feel Kakashi's chest shaking, as though it contained laughter within it, when Kakashi wrapped his arms around Iruka and rocked his hips in one long, grinding movement.

"A-ah!" Iruka juddered, "bastard!" He raised his head, knowing that his face would probably be glowing in arousal, and bit his lip, "you've really never…"

"You'll have to show me," Kakashi smirked, raising an expectant eyebrow.

His cock twitched within the confines of his pants. He wanted to wrap Kakashi around him and sink into him, he wanted to know what it felt like to lose himself in Kakashi's body, and he could, he would be the first person to experience it, _the only person_ if he had anything to do with it. Kakashi would be entirely his…

"Oh my god…" he wailed mournfully, "I'm never leaving the house without lube again!"

"Spit," Kakashi said.

"What?" Iruka looked up into Kakashi face and frowned.

"Spit," he repeated, "saliva. It's a natural lubricant…"

"No!" Iruka pouted, unwilling to admit how tempted he was, "it's your first time…"

Kakashi grinned, "Iruka, you make me feel like a virgin again."

Iruka's lips tugged up at the corners at the gleeful expression on Kakashi's face, "because you're _so_ virginal," he chuckled, "but no… we need lube. It would hurt otherwise…"

"It's fine," Kakashi groaned, wiggling his hips impatiently, "I have a first aid kit."

Iruka snapped his head up, grinning in triumph, "first aid kit!"

"Huh?" Kakashi watched him curiously as he knelt up, patting the scroll pouches of his flak jacket until he found what he was looking for.

"What's that?" Kakashi asked as he pulled one of the scrolls out of his flak jacket and hastily pulled it open.

"It's my first aid kit," he said, leaning over the edge of the bed and shoving the scroll onto the floor. He pressed his hand to it to activate it, but he was slightly enthusiastic, as he summoned every single item contained within the scroll into existence.

"Wow," Kakashi remarked as he peered over Iruka's shoulder at the collection of items that had appeared on his floor, "that's ingenious… why haven't I ever though of that?"

Iruka beamed at the praise and snatched up the tub of aloe vera gel, "need to have all this stuff to hand when working with children," he explained as he sat back on the bed.

"So," Kakashi grinned, leaning forwards, "you actually never leave the house without lube."

Iruka stuttered, embarrassed at the thought of taking lube to the Academy, "well, it's not lube, it's…" but Kakashi kissed him before he could make his point and pulled him back down onto the bed.

Now that he actually had lube he found himself slightly nervous. He was already a little anxious about sleeping with Kakashi for the first time, but he hadn't considered that it would be Kakashi's first time with a man _ever_. The pressure was far more than it had been before and Iruka didn't want to screw it up.

While Iruka had been worrying, Kakashi had slipped his hands beneath Iruka's flak jacket and pushed it over his shoulders, freeing him from it and tossing to the floor.

"You're thinking," Kakashi observed, sliding his hands beneath Iruka's shirt and pushing it up, "stop it."

He dropped the tub of gel somewhere near Kakashi's shoulder when he helped the jounin to remove his shirt. He sat up, hovering over Kakashi as he pulled the material over his head, dislodging his hair tie in the process, and his breath caught when a tongue lathed over one of his nipples and the jounin's hand crept between his legs, rubbing him through his pants.

He threw his shirt across the room and buried his fingers in Kakashi's hair as the jounin sucked on the nub of flesh he had caught between his teeth. The pressure building between his legs from Kakashi's stroking was edging far to close to a messy finish, but before he could stop him the hand had moved, and the jounin was peeling Iruka's pants down over his hips.

Kakashi flicked his tongue over Iruka's nipple and pushed his pants down over his thighs, and Iruka had forgotten why he had been so nervous, he forgot everything but the sensation of Kakashi's hands gliding over his thighs and the jounin's tongue lapping at his skin. He tightened his fingers in his silvery hair and pushed him onto his back, kissing him firmly as he kicked himself out of his pants.

Kakashi's skin was like the petals of cherry blossoms, almost white and breathtakingly soft, patterned with scars like silver veins painted over his skin. Iruka had marvelled at the sight of Kakashi naked only the previous night, but the warm tingle of possession he felt when he moved his hands over Kakashi's skin was entirely new; it was the surety that Kakashi wanted him like this, knowing that he was the only one allowed to touch Kakashi like he was.

His hand moved lower over the lithe body beneath him, lingering around the navel and enjoying the rush of power he felt when Kakashi whimpered and bucked his hips, begging for touches below his waist. He swallowed the pleading sounds the man made, lapping at the taste of the jounin's mouth, and rubbed his hand between Kakashi's legs where his pants were damp with pre-come.

There were fireworks flaring beneath Iruka's skin, flashing outwards from his groin. He wrapped his fingers impatiently around the waistband of the jounin's pants and shoved them down, pulling desperately until he had to release Kakashi's lips to free his legs from the fabric.

He groaned when he had Kakashi completely naked and the jounin's knees bent, bowing outwards in an almost welcoming gesture. His erection was thick and flushed, and it twitched when Iruka ran his hands up the inside of Kakashi's thighs. He thought he could spend eternity exploring Kakashi's body, the way he shuddered and trembled when Iruka touched him in certain ways. But his own erection had started to hurt, he doubted he had ever been so painfully turned on.

"Iruka…" Kakashi panted, holding the tub of aloe vera gel out to him. Iruka licked his lips as his eyes travelled up the expanse of the pale body before him, before he took the tub from his outstretched hand and fumbled with the lid, his own hands shaking with pent up desire.

He dropped the tub near Kakashi's ankle after inadvertently smearing the gel all over his hand when he yanked the lid off. A small thread of hesitation had stolen back into his thoughts, nervous about being the first person to do this, but incredibly aroused by the prospect at the same time. Rather than let his nerves get the better of him he knelt forwards and dipped his head, so that he could press his lips to the silky texture of Kakashi's hip, while sliding his fingers between the crease of his buttocks.

Kakashi moaned and tilted his hips, letting Iruka stroke the pucker he found there and slide a finger in, spreading warming gel over heated velvet. He moved his lips across the jounin's skin, roaming from one hipbone to the other and causing Kakashi to thrust upwards when his chin glided over the leaking head of his erection.

He hissed when he shifted slightly, and his own neglected cock brushed intimately over the sheets. He pressed his nose into Kakashi's hip, breathing in the intoxicating scent of him, before he moved his lips once again and wrapped them firmly around the flushed head of Kakashi's cock.

oO0Oo

Kakashi almost started thrashing, crying out a litany of aborted words. He was going to explode; his erection was wrapped in the wet heat of Iruka's mouth and he had to force himself to keep his eyes on the ceiling, because if he dared to look, it would be the end of him, he'd shatter.

He almost forgot about the movement of Iruka's fingers. It occurred to him that he should feel a little more anxious about this, but it was Iruka, he had no other explanation than that for his lack of trepidation, just that it was Iruka. It was almost frightening how much he had come to trust the chuunin.

Iruka's lips were moving down over his cock, and his tongue was dancing in devastating circles over his flesh. He felt a slight burn as Iruka's fingers continued to slide into him, but the sensation was more pleasurable than it was painful, and even that surprised him. He had known that it would feel good, otherwise why would anyone do it? But he hadn't expected to enjoy the burning stretch of his muscles quite so much. When Iruka _sucked_ around him he yelled towards the ceiling and lost the ability to breath.

He whined feebly when Iruka's mouth left him, only to blink dazedly up into eyes the colour of melted chocolate. There was a desperate shade to the chuunin's features as he leant down for a kiss.

Kakashi actually found that he missed the feel of Iruka's fingers inside him, he felt oddly empty, so a thrill shot through him when he felt the blunt head of Iruka's erection knock against his ass. He pushed his tongue into the chuunin's mouth as he canted his hips, and stuttered small, soft sounds into his mouth when Iruka started to press into him.

It was more than the slight burn that he had felt before, but he wouldn't call it painful. It felt like being filled up, full to the brim, and if he thought that he had felt complete that morning when he had been entangled with Iruka then he had been wrong, _this_ was what completion felt like, with Iruka sliding into him until he could feel the chuunin's balls against his ass and Iruka shaking imperceptibly against him.

"Nnn," Iruka pressed his face into the crook of his neck and groaned, holding himself perfectly still until his muscles had stopped quivering, "alright?"

Kakashi sighed and licked his lips, trying to memorize how it felt to be filled by Iruka, and ran his hands over the chuunin's back. He pressed a kiss to _his lover's_ shoulder and smiled against his tanned skin, "what are you waiting for," he breathed, "a written invitation?"

Iruka laughed softly into his neck, before he ran kisses up to his jaw, and claimed his lips, stealing the very breath out of his chest as he rocked his hips. Kakashi heard his name breathed into his mouth, and moaned at the way their flesh tugged at each other in delicious friction despite the slickness of the gel. It sent flashes of aroused heat through his belly as a sudden thrust caught him by surprise.

"T-tell me if you want me to stop," Iruka gasped.

"Don't stop," he moaned, wrapping his legs around the chuunin, "don't…"

The next thrust sent him reeling. His thighs tightened around Iruka as the chuunin sped up his movements, groaning softly against his lips. A thin film of perspiration had dampened their bodies until they were sliding against one another, with Iruka surging into him and Kakashi rocking upwards to meet each thrust. Iruka tore his lips away from Kakashi's, pressing their foreheads together so they could gasp in unison and pant for breath. Kakashi found himself captured in Iruka's gaze, unable to look away as one of the chuunin's hands slid between them and found his erection.

Kakashi cried out when Iruka started stroking him firmly in time with his thrusts, overloaded by the dual sensations and quickly losing himself in the onslaught of pleasure. Iruka groaned his name, struggling to keep his eyes open and locked on Kakashi's, when his climax hit him. He yelled out, shocked at the difference between this orgasm and any other he had ever had as it spread through him rather than out of him. His entire body jerked as he came in Iruka's hand.

He heard Iruka cry out, slamming back into him in one last, violent thrust as he shuddered above him. He opened his eyes in time to see Iruka's face, the desperate twist of his features as he found his orgasm inside Kakashi's body. Iruka's eyes were screwed shut, but they flew open as he rode out the aftershocks travelling through him, glazed and sated and fixated upon Kakashi's face.

"Alright?" Iruka whispered reverently as his arms shook holding him upright.

Kakashi smiled, "much better than alright."

Iruka smiled, a look of unadulterated happiness on his flushed face that made Kakashi's breath catch in shock, before he collapsed onto the jounin's chest.

"Mmm," the chuunin buried his face in Kakashi's chest, and Kakashi could feel him smiling against him, but his own expression had gone perfectly blank in surprise, shock still numbing his thoughts. He hadn't realised until Iruka had smiled at him, so perfectly happy and content just because of Kakashi, how much he actually felt for the chuunin. Just seeing that smile on Iruka's face had made him so blindingly happy himself, that he realised, he wanted to see that smile on Iruka's face all the time, he wanted to be the one to put that smile there, because he wanted nothing else from this life but to make Iruka happy. He would do anything to make Iruka happy. Because he _loved_ him.

He wrapped his arms tighter around his lover's boneless body, and tried to remember how to breathe.

oO0Oo

Shinichi gave the senbon one final jerk within the lock, and smirked in satisfaction when the locking mechanism clunked open. He cast one final look around, making sure that no one had seen him, before he swept soundlessly through the door and pushed it softly closed behind him. No one would even know for sure that he had re-entered the village until it was over; he had given Izumo a toxic amount of sedative and dumped him behind the ramen stand. All he had to do was wait until morning when he could take the final step, and he could put an end to it all. His revenge, his torment, and his own twisted life.

With silent footsteps, he wandered through the empty halls of the Academy, looking for somewhere to wait until morning.


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen**

They must have moved some time during the night. Iruka could distinctly remember having Kakashi sprawled across him, with their legs tangled together beneath the sheets and Kakashi's hair tickling his neck. He had fallen asleep with Kakashi's weight pinning him to the bed and he could remember thinking that he had never felt so comfortable before in his life. He felt ridiculously safe with Kakashi wrapped around him and trapping him to the mattress.

But when he woke up he found that their positions had almost reversed. It seemed as though he had tried to attach himself to the jounin like some sort of barnacle. He had wrapped his arms around as much of Kakashi as he could reach, and one of his legs was hooked over the man's waist. Not even the great Copy-nin would be able to escape from the hold Iruka had on him.

He had his face firmly buried in the crook of Kakashi's neck, and every time he breathed in he could smell sandalwood and orange blossoms. He liked waking up with Kakashi even more than he liked falling asleep with him.

He smiled to himself when Kakashi made a sleepy sound, halfway between a mewl and a growl. He was embarrassed for a moment, worried about how it must seem for him to be clutching at Kakashi in such a way, but he forgot about his embarrassment when Kakashi stretched languorously within his arms. He could feel Kakashi's body arch against his and he shuddered when the jounin went loose once again and snuggled into him.

"Morning," he murmured into Kakashi's neck, unable to keep the content smile from his face.

"Mmm."

It hadn't been such a long time since Kakashi's presence made Iruka feel uncomfortable. He could barely even comprehend that now. It astounded him that he used to think of the jounin as nothing more than aloof and lazy. He used to go out of his way to avoid the man, but the mere idea of avoiding Kakashi now was incomprehensible. Iruka was almost afraid to contemplate how much he had come to care about Kakashi after such a short period of time.

He slid his head across the pillow, out from the curve of Kakashi's neck so that he could look into the jounin's face. He kept forgetting how breathtaking Kakashi was to look at; Iruka dreaded the day that he could look into his face and not feel his breath hitch.

Kakashi blinked sleepily and smiled, but despite the expression Iruka went cold when he saw something similar to fear behind Kakashi's eyes.

"Kakashi…" before Iruka could ask what was wrong, Kakashi tightened his arms around the chuunin and held him tightly against his chest, burying his face in Iruka's hair.

"Are you hungry?" the jounin asked, his voice still thick with sleep.

"Huh? What?" Iruka frowned, still seeing the frightened shadow behind Kakashi's eyes and trying to free himself from Kakashi's grip so that he could look again.

"Would you like breakfast?" Kakashi breathed softly into his ear, causing goose bumps to buzz across Iruka's body.

"Uh… yeah…" Iruka replied, slightly breathless as Kakashi's hands stroked languidly down his back. He allowed his eyes to drift shut, breathing in the scent of sandalwood and orange blossoms again, until the shrill ringing of an alarm shocked him into full alertness.

Kakashi groaned in annoyance as he reached towards the clock near the window and slapped it into silence, but before the alarm was turned off Iruka caught a glimpse of the time.

"Shit!" Iruka yelled as he struggled to free himself from Kakashi's embrace, "I'm going to be late!"

He heard Kakashi chuckle before they were rolled over and Iruka found himself pinned firmly to the mattress, "my clock's fast," the jounin leered.

"You're lying," Iruka gasped as Kakashi's fingers flitted down his sides.

"Maybe," Kakashi agreed, grinning as he dipped his head and scraped his teeth over Iruka's jaw.

"Oh… no, I can't, I h-have to…" Iruka gasped when Kakashi's lips found his throat and began to suckle gently on his skin, "you… you're a bad influence."

"So I've been told," Kakashi replied as his hands moved lower.

oO0Oo

He hadn't slept. He wasn't sure when he had last slept, or when he had last eaten. He could barely remember anything beyond his planning and his anger. It felt as though he was fading, like he was spread so thin that he barely existed any more.

Sometimes, if he was still and quiet for long enough, he thought he saw Jin out of the corner of his eye. Every time he turned to look, the apparition would vanish, so he had stopped looking. He allowed Jin to haunt him on the edge of his vision.

He was standing at the window in the teacher's lounge, staring at the ghost-like image of his reflection in the glass. There were dark smudges beneath his eyes, and his hair hung limply around his face. He looked like a corpse.

A droplet of water splattered onto the face of his reflection, and it was only when he lifted his hand to his forehead to wipe it away that he realised that the water was on the window and not on his face. He stared out towards the dull clouds overhead with wide eyes, and felt something tighten inside him when another rain drop landed upon the window.

"It's raining," he whispered.

_What is it with you and the rain?_

He flinched. It wasn't just Jin haunting him. Every now and then he would hear his brother's voice, echoing in his mind. He thought that the voice was coming from behind him, and for a moment he longed to turn around and face Zabuza, to look into his eyes and ask for his help.

But if he turned around then his brother wouldn't be there. He didn't think he would be able to stand that.

"The rain reminds me of you," he said quietly, reaching out to trace the path of water down the glass.

_I hate rain._

Shinichi smiled. His reflection smiled back.

"But you always came to find me in the rain," he said. His vision had started to shimmer.

_You were a sickly kid. If I left you alone you would have ended up dead._

"You didn't want me to end up dead," Shinichi bit his lip when it started to quiver, "you loved me"

_I left you._

Shinichi swallowed and dropped his hand from the window pane, "why? Why did you leave me behind?"

_You were weak. You've always been weak. Look at you, you're pathetic._

Shinichi blinked at the image of his reflection and gasped when he saw that the trails of water that he had been tracing on the glass were really trails of tears falling down his reflection's face.

He jerked in surprise when the door banged open. He whipped around to face the door. Jin had vanished from the edge of his vision and Zabuza's voice had fallen silent.

"Oh! Can I help you?" the woman in the doorway frowned as she hastily wiped the rain from her glasses.

Before she could lower her hand Shinichi had brushed past her and into the corridor. He moved swiftly through the hallways of the Academy, listening to the first signs of life within the building.

_Where are you going?_

"To get the bait."

oO0Oo

Kakashi watched in amusement as Iruka crawled around his apartment on all fours, muttering curses under his breath.

"You could help me look!" Iruka frowned impatiently, "you have no idea what my class gets up to when I'm late."

Kakashi's grin widened as he lounged back onto the pillows, "why would I want to look for a hair tie when I can look at you?"

Iruka glared up at him, but his angry expression melted into an embarrassed smile before he ducked his head to continue his search.

He knew that he should probably tell the chuunin that his hair tie was under the desk, he had already made Iruka even later by following him into the shower and thoroughly distracting him. But he didn't want to say goodbye yet.

Iruka picked up Kakashi's pants and tossed them at him, "don't you have _anything_ that could tie my hair up? A shoelace? A piece of string?"

Kakashi chuckled, and Iruka took the opportunity to narrow his eyes at him and hiss beneath his breath, "you'd better not already know where it is, Hatake."

Something in Kakashi's expression must have given him away, because when he shook his head Iruka stood up, drawing himself to his full height and glowered down at Kakashi, his wet hair spilling around his face.

Kakashi blinked up at him innocently, "um… is that it under the desk?"

When Iruka dropped to his knees to swipe up his hair tie, Kakashi pushed himself to his feet. He wanted to run his hands through Iruka's hair again before the chuunin tied it back, so when Iruka climbed back to his feet and turned around to face Kakashi, he combed his fingers through the chuunin's hair and drew him into a kiss.

Iruka made a surprised little sound when Kakashi crushed their lips together, but quickly forgot about the hair tie he had snapped around his wrist and the impending chaos that his class would no doubt create. He moaned softly and flicked his tongue out to meet Kakashi's.

Kakashi really did love him. He wasn't entirely sure when it had happened, but he knew he loved Iruka as surely as he knew anything. The knowledge filled him with as much dread as it did happiness. He was terrified of being in love. He had never felt anything so consuming for anyone and he was petrified that his feelings for Iruka would be his undoing.

He didn't even know if Iruka could ever feel the same way. He didn't know what he would do if he ever lost Iruka. The fear of losing him was far greater now than it had been before. It terrified him.

Kakashi heard the window slide open a split second before he let go of Iruka and pushed the chuunin behind him in an automatic protective gesture. He caught Pakkun purely by reflex when the pug leapt through the curtains and straight into Kakashi's arms.

"I'll do anything!" Pakkun panted, "just please don't send me back to him! He put me on a leash, Kakashi. A _leash_!"

"Uh…" Kakashi held the summon out in front of him and blinked at the wild glint in Pakkun's eyes.

"Well then…" he heard Iruka cough, "I'll just…"

"You don't have to go yet," Kakashi said when he turned back to the chuunin.

Iruka smiled, "I'll come over after class. If that's alright."

"He took me for a _walk_…"

"Of course it's alright," Kakashi replied, ignoring Pakkun's cries of woe.

Iruka beamed and stepped forwards to kiss Kakashi's cheek, "bye then."

He watched the chuunin move swiftly through the door, closing it quickly behind him, and released the breath he had been holding ever since Iruka's lips touched his cheek. He was probably blushing. His face felt hot.

"Kakashi…" Pakkun's voice had calmed down slightly, "why are you naked?"

Kakashi looked down at the pug he was holding and raised and eyebrow, "why do you think?"

Pakkun blinked in confusion before he screeched, "_eww_! Put me down! Put me down!"

oO0Oo

Hanabi couldn't remember the last time someone had held her hand just because they wanted to feel her fingers entwined with theirs. She had held Iruka-sensei's hand when she led him through the fog to find her class mates, but that had been because he was practically blind. She had held hands with Udon and Midori when they were led into the woods towards the Sound shinobi, but that was so that no one would get lost in the mist. She could even remember holding her father's hand when they went to watch the chuunin exams, but he had only taken her hand because he didn't trust the shinobi from other countries, not after her older sister had been kidnapped by a Cloud-nin, and he wanted to keep her close by. So when she woke up and felt a hand clasping hers, she frowned to herself, trying to figure out why someone was holding her hand.

Her older sister wasn't looking at her face when she opened her eyes, she was staring at their hands, wrapped together, and so didn't notice when Hanabi woke up. She hadn't realised how small her hands were compared to Hinata's. Her family was always telling Hanabi that she was stronger than her sister, more powerful than her and cleverer than her. Hinata was weak, she was a disappointment, but it didn't stop Hanabi from feeling ever so slightly secure in her presence.

She glanced down at their hands, her own small hand held within her older sister's, and squeezed her fingers.

"Hanabi!" Hinata gasped, "you're awake!"

Hanabi tried not to smile when Hinata smoothed the hair away from her face and beamed down at her. She didn't want to appear weak like her sister. But if Hinata was as weak as everyone said, then maybe it would be alright to lower her guard in front of her sister, just for a while.

"How do you feel?" Hinata asked, letting go of her hand and causing the smile to fade from Hanabi's face, "we were so worried."

Hanabi clenched her hand into a fist, trying to pretend that it didn't feel cold now that her sister's hand wasn't holding hers. She opened her mouth to say she felt fine, when the door swung open and her father strode into the room.

"You're awake at last," her father observed, "good. I need to ask you some questions."

For the briefest of moments Hanabi thought she saw her sister scowl. But when she blinked Hinata was back to looking small and nervous, and Hanabi decided that she had imagined it.

"Questions?" Hanabi asked, shocked by how scratchy her voice sounded.

"Do you want some water Hanabi-chan?" Hinata asked worriedly, leaning over her and wringing her hands together.

"Who attacked you?" her father said, ignoring Hinata's fussing, "and what were you doing in the park?"

Hanabi's entire frame went taut. She hadn't thought about why she was in a hospital bed, she hadn't thought back on the rain or the missing-nin on the roof of the teahouse. She slammed her eyes shut, trying to push away the image of the rain whirling around her, and the memory of each raindrop slicing through her skin.

A shinobi wouldn't be afraid. A shinobi would give their report without emotion, without shaking in fright and screwing their eyes shut. But Hanabi couldn't help it; she couldn't keep the small whimper inside. She hated herself for showing weakness, especially in front of her father who demanded perfection.

"Answer me Hanabi," her father said.

"S-stop it," Hinata said quietly, "she… she n-needs to rest."

"If you are going to interrupt me Hinata," her father replied, "then you can leave the room."

Hanabi swallowed and opened her eyes. She knew that she was safe, that nothing could harm her any more, but she had never been as frightened as she had been when she realised that she couldn't outrun the rain. She had been terrified, knowing that she couldn't fight back.

"Hanabi," Her father folded his arms as he stood at the end of the bed, "answer my question. Why were you…"

"D-don't," Hinata yelped, shocking Hanabi into looking away from her father and at her sister instead, "s-she's just woken up! You can't q-question her yet…"

"Leave, Hinata," her father narrowed his eyes at Hanabi's sister, "this doesn't concern you."

"She's my s-sister…"

Hanabi looked from her sister to her father, and frowned. Everyone was always telling her how weak Hinata was, and Hanabi had always agreed with them. But if her father had told Hanabi to leave the room, then she would have, without question. She was the dutiful and obedient daughter. But Hinata, the weak one, the disappointment, was standing up to their father. For the first time in her life, Hanabi wondered if maybe she was the weak one, not her sister.

"Hinata," her father scowled, "leave."

Hinata hovered for a moment. Pressing the tips of her fingers together nervously, before she cast an apologetic glance at Hanabi and dashed out of the room.

Hanabi's heart fell. For a few moments Hinata had been the sister that Hanabi wanted, someone who would stand up for her. But then she had gone.

"Now answer my questions," her father sighed wearily, "who attacked you, and why? The Hokage has her own theories but I want to hear what you have to say."

Hanabi's shoulders slumped. She would have to describe it; she would have to tell her father what had happened and live through it again, each agonising raindrop at a time. She swallowed down her nerves and took a deep breath.

"What is going on in here?" the Hokage snarled as she swept into the room, with a sheepish looking Hinata on her heels.

"Hokage-sama…" Hanabi's father turned in surprise.

"Hinata tells me that your interrogating my patient," the Hokage glowered angrily, "is that true?"

"I am well within my rights to ask my daughter…"

"You are well within your rights to shut the hell up," the Hokage growled, "the girl has just woken up, I don't have my _ANBU_ questioned when they've just woken up from life threatening injuries!"

"With all due respect Hokage-sama," Hanabi's father bristled, "Hanabi is my daughter…"

"And she's _my_ patient," the Hokage interrupted, "and it is obvious that you are agitating her, so I'll have to ask you to leave."

"_What_?"

"I can have you escorted from the building if you'd like," the Hokage raised a single eyebrow and tapped her foot impatiently.

Hinata seemed to shrink into the Hokage's shadow as her father glared at her.

He turned back to Hanabi, "I'll be back later," and strode from the room, slamming the door behind him.

"Now," the Hokage snapped, whirling on Hinata, "I have more important things to be doing than…"

"HOKAGE-SAMA!"

The Hokage blinked in surprise and looked towards the door as the yelling got closer and closer. Hanabi watched as Hinata looked towards the corner of the room, her eyes following something beyond the wall, and bit her lip.

"It's Kotetsu-san," Hinata said as she turned towards the Hokage.

The Hokage scowled in confusion and moved towards the door just as a shinobi with wild spiky hair skidded to a halt in the doorway and lunged himself towards the Hokage.

"Izumo!" He gasped, "they've found him! He's… Hokage-sama you have to…"

"Get off!" the Hokage growled as she shrugged him away, "where is he?"

Hanabi watched the two leave the room, one agitated and the other annoyed, before turning back to her sister. Hanabi didn't know what to say to her. In her own way Hinata had stood up to their father, but then again, she was always doing that, she just did it so subtly that no one really paid attention. Hanabi had never stood up to the man; she had always thought that duty was one of the most important things to a shinobi. But perhaps duty and obedience were two different things.

"Hinata…" Hanabi rasped.

"Oh, your water!" Hinata gasped as she rushed towards the table where a glass and a jug of water were waiting.

"Hinata…" Hanabi repeated as her sister poured her a glass of water, "I want to be like you when I'm older."

The glass shattered into a thousand pieces when it hit the floor. Hinata goggled at Hanabi, turning a violent shade of red before she realised she had dropped the glass and proceeded to stutter apologies as she picked up the shards.

oO0Oo

Iruka shook himself when he entered the Academy, sending rain water flying in all directions. He had faltered for a moment when he had left Kakashi's apartment and realised that it was raining. But he refused to fear the rain, it was only water. He hastily wiped the water from his face as he ran towards his classroom, apprehensive about what he would find when he got there.

But as he hurried through the corridor towards his classroom door, his stomach dropped. Without any sort of supervision his class should be making enough of a racket to be heard halfway across the building, but the closer he got the quieter it seemed. He slowed to a walk as he neared the door, and felt something heavy settle in his stomach as he pushed the door open.

The classroom was empty, the only person there apart from Iruka was sitting in the front row, in the centre of the room.

Iruka could hear his blood rushing in his ears. Shinichi turned to look at him, with his hands clasped together upon the desk.

"You're late, Iruka-sensei."

oO0Oo

Hanabi had turned on her side the moment Hinata left the room. She was supposed to be sleeping, her body needed rest, but the continuous hiss of rain hitting the window wouldn't let her close her eyes for more than a second, and she had turned away from the glass so that she wouldn't be able to see the falling water.

She hadn't realised how loud rain could be. She was inside but it sounded like the rain was all around her. She had to concentrate on keeping her breaths even, she felt breathless for some reason.

She jumped in fright when the door was pushed open. She didn't want anyone, even Hinata to see her acting like a frightened child, so she quickly closed her eyes and yanked the covers up to her chin in a vain attempt to pretend she was sleeping.

But the footsteps of the person who had entered the room were heavier than Hinata's, the stride was longer, and Hanabi's imagination conjured up faceless assassins who could control the rain, so she jerked up into a sitting position, clasping the covers tightly to her chest.

Kakashi-sensei put his hands in his pockets and smiled with his visible eye, "morning Hanabi-chan."

Relief washed over Hanabi, warming her up from the inside. The tension drained out of her and she lowered the covers she had been holding against her, feeling each breath come easier.

"Good morning Kakashi-sensei," she replied.

"How are you feeling?"

Hanabi's eyes flickered to the window. She scowled when she realised how telling that was and balled her hands into fists, "I'm fine, Kakashi-sensei."

"Hey, could you do me a favour?" Kakashi-sensei asked suddenly. When Hanabi looked up at him he was staring out of the window with a suspicious frown.

"Of course," she replied.

"Could you tell me if there's any chakra in that rain?" he said, "I'd like to make sure it's safe before I go back out into it."

She knew what he was doing. He had already been out in the rain, she could see the moisture in his hair and on his clothes. He already knew that the rain was safe, he was only trying to make her feel better.

But despite knowing that, Hanabi still focused her eyes and stared out of the window.

"There's no chakra," she said, feeling something inside her loosen, "it's just normal rain."

"Thank you Hanabi-chan."

Hanabi shook her head, but she was fighting a tiny smile. Surprisingly she _did_ feel better now. But maybe it was because in some strange way Kakashi-sensei had made her think that it was alright to be a little scared of the rain after what had happened. He'd acted as though it was normal.

"Um…" she wriggled a bit beneath the covers and forced herself to meet Kakashi-sensei's eye, "thank you for saving me Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi-sensei smiled, "actually, I came here to thank _you_."

Hanabi blinked in surprise, "what for?"

"Gai told me about the plan you convinced him into helping you with," Kakashi-sensei replied, his eye narrowed, but it was twinkling, "remind me never to piss you off."

Before she could stop herself, Hanabi was grinning, "never piss me off." She writhed a little on the inside when she imagined the look on her father's face if he could have heard her say that.

Kakashi-sensei's eye crinkled in a smile, "I'll leave you to get some rest," he said as he turned towards the door, "see you later Hanabi-chan."

As soon as Kakashi-sensei took a step away from the bed, Hanabi tensed up, glancing back towards the window. It was utterly incomprehensible why she was suddenly so nervous about being alone. She hadn't been afraid when Hinata was with her, and she wasn't afraid with Kakashi-sensei in the room, but the thought of being alone with nothing but the hissing of the rain made her feel queasy.

"Oh, can I ask one more favour," Kakashi-sensei said as he turned back to her.

Hanabi breathed in deeply and nodded.

Kakashi-sensei bent down, disappearing beneath the edge of the bed, and when he stood back up he was holding a small, ugly looking dog in his hands.

"This is Pakkun," he said with a smile, "could you keep an eye on him while I go and visit Sakura."

"But _I_ want to go visit.." the pug fell silent when he was dropped onto the end of the bed.

"He's kind of annoying," Kakashi-sensei sighed, "but you'd be doing me a huge favour."

"Oi!" the pug growled loudly, "who are you calling annoying?"

Hanabi frowned at the little dog. It was huffing indignantly and scowling at her.

"I don't mind," she replied, secretly glad to have someone so loud to distract her from the falling water, but she suspected that Kakashi-sensei already knew that.

"Thanks," he replied as he sauntered to the door, "I won't be long."

When the door closed, Hanabi and the pug stared at each other in silence for a few minutes. But even silence with the small animal was unnecessarily loud. She had completely forgotten about the weather.

"So…" the pug sniffed, "you're the one responsible for Kakashi and Iruka."

oO0Oo

"Where are my students," Iruka whispered threateningly. Terror had wrapped around him and cut into his skin, making his heart slam faster against his ribcage.

"In the forest," Shinichi replied calmly. The young man turned his gaze towards Iruka's desk at the front of the room, "you're going to need that."

Iruka looked towards the desk, and frowned when he noticed a small glass vial sitting unobtrusively upon the wood.

"What is it?" he asked, glaring back towards the missing-nin.

"You're going to take that into the forest," Shinichi said as he rose from his seat, "you're going to go alone, and you aren't going to tell anyone where you're going or what you're doing."

"Where in the forest?" Iruka asked, terrified that he would find only corpses when he got there.

"The same place you encountered the Shinobi from Hidden Sound," he replied, "where the little Hyuuga first saw me."

Iruka's hands clenched into fists when he remembered how Hanabi had screamed when Shinichi had attacked her with the rain. The calm expression upon Shinichi's face was driving him to distraction, he wanted to scratch the expression from his features and make him bleed.

"What makes you think I won't simply inform the Hokage of your whereabouts?" Iruka asked through gritted teeth.

"Because…" Shinichi looked back towards the vial on the desk, "they need that antidote."

Before Iruka could say anything more, Shinichi burst apart in a splash of cold water, leaving nothing but a pool of water on the floor and over the desk. It had been a clone, and knowing that the real Shinichi was with his students in the forest caused panic to stab at him.

He skidded across to his desk and snatched up the vial of clear liquid. It was an antidote, just like he'd said, but something buzzed at the back of Iruka's mind when he read the serial number and inscription on the bottom of the glass.

His stomach dropped when he realised what poison the antidote was paired with. He remembered Gai, lying still and unconscious in hospital, and Kakashi when he had sagged against the wall in Otafuku Gai as his breathing grew harsher. He thought back to the shattered vials in the hospital when they had found Sakura unconscious, and wondered if they had made any more, or if the vial in his hand was the only one left in the village.

He dashed for the window without another thought. He didn't have time to tell anyone where he was going, or to get reinforcements. He had no idea how long ago Shinichi had poisoned his students; he had to get the antidote to them as soon as possible.

oO0Oo

Kakashi paused when he turned the corner and cocked his head. Sitting halfway down the corridor, with his back against the wall, was Kotetsu. He was chewing his lip and staring down at a pile of glass shards on the floor between his legs. He looked completely lost.

"What are you doing?" Kakashi frowned as he neared the chuunin, curious as to why he was handling the slivers of glass carefully and trying to fix them back together.

"I…" he looked up at Kakashi, and swallowed, "I can't fix it. I don't even know what it is. They found it in his pocket…"

"Who's pocket?" Kakashi asked, worried by the tone of Kotetsu's voice. He sounded broken; Kakashi knew that sound well, and he could only wonder who had died.

"Izumo's…" Kotetsu bit his lip as he held two shards up and scrutinised them desperately, "Hokage-sama is with him…"

Kakashi sighed and let his muscles relax. Izumo was alive then, but he couldn't be in a good way if Kotetsu looked so devastated.

The chuunin placed the shards back on the floor and stared at them, "what do you think it is? A hedgehog?"

Kakashi sighed and pushed up his hitai-ate. The Sharingan drank in the shapes and sizes of each piece of glass before he pulled the material back down over his eye.

"It's a conch shell," Kakashi informed him.

Kotetsu looked up at him, and Kakashi was thoroughly shocked by the chuunin's expression. Something close to dread had filled Kotetsu's face.

"A conch…" he looked back down at the glass, and his face collapsed. Kakashi didn't know what to do about people crying, he felt utterly uncomfortable, but he wanted to do something to comfort the man.

"I'm sure he'll be fine," Kakashi said, hoping a lie would stop the man from breaking down.

"I'd have given him one of mine…" he sobbed, "if he'd asked… I'd have given him anything, the idiot."

He was still trying to fit together pieces of glass, but as his hands began to shake he kept cutting his fingers. He didn't seem to notice the blood turning the glass red, he simply continued to pick up shard after shard and try to find a piece that matched.

"Kotetsu," Kakashi placed his hands over the chuunin's forcing them to still, "you're hurting yourself."

Kotetsu jerked in shock when the door a few feet away opened. The chuunin scrambled to his feet when the Hokage emerged, looking ragged and stern.

"Hokage-sama!" Kotestu shoved Kakashi away when he leapt to his feet, "is he…"

"He'll be fine…"

Kakashi breathed in a sigh of relief as the Hokage explained something about kidney damage and keeping Izumo under observation, but Kakashi had stopped really listening when he knew Izumo would be alright. He turned away and began heading further up the corridor towards Sakura's room.

"Kakashi!" Tsunade's voice rang shrilly in Kakashi's ears for a moment, "I need a word with you, come with me."

With a weary sigh and a defeated expression, Kakashi spun on his heels and followed Tsunade towards the staircase.

oO0Oo

Iruka prayed that he was going in the right direction. He had been following someone else when he had last been to the place Shinichi had told him to go to, and the trees had been hidden in mist. But he had an excellent sense of direction, so he simply allowed his feet to take him in the direction they recognised.

He saw Moegi first, lying between the massive roots of an old tree. When he jumped through the bushes and into the clearing his heart stuttered to a stop. His entire class was scattered around the clearing, lying on the ground, in all manner of positions, like discarded dolls. Every last one of them was unconscious.

He completely forgot about the missing-nin when he saw them. He clasped the antidote in his hand and rushed towards Udon who was just to his right, with panic tearing at his guts. But he had only taken a step when he was reminded of Shinichi's presence.

"Stop!" the command rang out through the clearing, startling Iruka into stillness. He couldn't breathe, his lungs were filled with fear instead of air. The children were dying, he could see it in the way they were sprawled motionless on the ground.

Shinichi dropped from the branches. Iruka gasped when he saw him. The missing-nin was paler than Iruka remembered, the skin beneath his eyes looked bruised, his hair was dirty and unkempt, and his eyes, which had been burning with green flames before, vibrant in their anger, were _dead_.

He had landed next to Moegi, holding the hilt of a tanto in his hand.

"I need to give them the antidote," Iruka took a step towards the missing-nin, "please, you can do whatever you want to me, just let me…"

"Shut up."

Iruka snapped his mouth shut. Shinichi tossed the blade he was holding, sending it through the air to land at Iruka's feet.

"Pick it up," Shinichi said. Even his voice sounded dead.

"Why?" Iruka asked. He was watching Shinichi, but his vision was filled with his students. Their limp bodies were surrounding them, like morbid decorations for the battlefield Shinichi had created.

"Pick it up," Shinichi repeated.

Iruka hesitated, but everywhere he looked he could see small, lifeless bodies, so he tried to tame the hopelessness cramping his heart and swept the tanto up.

"You want me to fight you?" he asked, pulling the blade from its scabbard.

"I want you to kill yourself," Shinichi replied.

oO0Oo

"Close the door," Tsunade ordered as she moved around her desk.

Kakashi pushed the door shut and turned back to the Hokage, who was lowering herself into her seat.

"Sit down."

"What did you want to see me about…"

"Sit!" Tsunade watched him carefully as he moved across the room, growing suspicious with each step. The Hokage was silent until he was seated opposite her.

"Yesterday, a chuunin called Hayase and a jounin called Hyuuga Kazuo were killed just outside the village," Tsunade said, "Hayase was tortured before he died, and a trap was set for Kazuo."

"By who?" Kakashi asked, frowning in concentration, but Tsunade ignored his question.

"An unknown shinobi was allowed into the village carrying Izumo," she went on, "but Izumo wasn't seen again until this morning when he was found behind the Ichiraku Ramen Stand."

Something ominous clicked in Kakashi's mind, "and the unknown shinobi?"

The Hokage pressed her lips into a thin line. The look in her eyes was one of cool fury. Her silence was Kakashi's answer.

"Momochi Shinichi," he snarled, gripping the arms of the chair.

Kakashi insides knotted together. Shinichi would go after Iruka. He would take Iruka from him. Iruka would be killed, and Kakashi would never be able to tell him that he loved him.

"Kakashi!"

He was already racing down the corridor when she yelled his name.

oO0Oo

The schoolteacher's eyes widened in disbelief. Shinichi watched the man with a strange sort of detachedness. It would be finished soon, it was almost over, he longed for the end so much that it hurt.

"W-what?" Iruka shook his head slightly, staring at Shinichi in horror.

"Stab yourself in the gut," Shinichi explained, wanting everything to be perfect, "then drag the blade across your abdomen."

He hadn't thought Iruka's eyes could get any wider, but they did. The chuunin's hands were shaking, the tanto was quivering as he held it.

"You want me to… commit seppuku?" the teacher asked, "what? Why?"

Shinichi smiled, glad that Iruka understood what was required of him, "because Kakashi's father committed seppuku."

Iruka blinked in shock. His mouth fell open slightly with surprise.

"You didn't know that?" Shinichi asked, "Kakashi was seven. He found his father's body. I intend for him to find yours too."

Iruka shook his head, only slightly at first, but the shaking became more insistent as his grip on the tanto tightened.

"You don't have to do this," Iruka said, "killing me won't bring your brother back."

Shinichi felt as though he had been slapped. Anger coursed through him with the reminder of why he was doing this, why he needed revenge. Hearing this schoolteacher talk about Zabuza was like having blades stripping his skin into ribbons.

"Do you think I don't know that?" he hissed, narrowing his eyes and glaring madly.

Iruka took a small step back, breathing heavily and biting his lip. His eyes kept darting around the clearing, shifting from one student to the next.

"Please let me give them the antidote," Iruka said in a hushed voice, "they're just children…"

"They'll get the antidote when you are dead."

"How can I believe that you won't just leave them to die?" Iruka cried.

Shinichi could feel his head pounding. He bared his teeth angrily, growing impatient. He was running out of time and he needed it to be over, the schoolteacher's attempts to find a way out of his situation were angering him. He wouldn't allow this to end any other way.

"I won't," he managed to growl out despite the heat of his anger crackling inside him, "but by the time you finally do as I say they'll already be dead."

Iruka started in fright at the thought, and looked down at the boy lying nearest to him.

"I don't want to die," he said quietly.

"You have no choice," Shinichi replied impatiently.

"Yes I do," Iruka tightened his grip on the weapon Shinichi had given him, slipped the antidote into his pocket, and leapt for him.

oO0Oo

"I'm just saying that he'd better not do anything to hurt Kakashi."

"He won't. But if Kakashi-sensei does something to hurt Iruka-sensei…"

"I'm telling you, Kakashi is crazy about him, if anyone's going to get hurt…" Pakkun fell silent suddenly, and Hanabi frowned down at him.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Kakashi…" Pakkun replied, a moment before the jounin appeared in the doorway.

"Come on!" Kakashi-sensei demanded as he flitted from the doorway once again.

"We'll continue this discussion later," Pakkun said as he jumped off the bed.

Hanabi frowned when she thought about the expression she had been able to make out on Kakashi-sensei's face when he had appeared in the doorway. He looked deadly, and she could only suppose that he was going on a mission if he looked so serious and needed his nin-dog with him.

"Take care of Kakashi-sensei, Pakkun-san," she called out to the dog before he darted out of the room.

"I always do," he replied, and vanished into the corridor.

Hanabi focused her Byakugan upon the rain outside once again, just to be sure that the rain was still free of chakra while Kakashi-sensei was out in it.

oO0Oo

The blade in Iruka's hand sliced through a dozen strands of Shinichi's hair, but he twisted out of the way before Iruka could draw blood. He knew that he was running out of time, that he had to administer the antidote to his students as soon as possible. He needed to defeat Shinichi quickly, but he wasn't even sure that he could.

Not long ago, he would have stabbed himself rather than fight, if it meant his students' lives he wouldn't have hesitated, he would have killed himself without thought. His students were everything to him, and he would die to keep them safe.

He would still die to keep them safe, but they were no longer everything to him. He couldn't just give up and kill himself if there was any hope of ending this another way. He couldn't die without hearing Kakashi laugh again. He had only heard the jounin laugh, really laugh, once, when they had been at Ichiraku. He wanted to see Kakashi's smile one more time, and hear his voice when he said Iruka's name. He wanted to kiss him again, and see the scars on his hands again, and fall asleep with him again, and wake up with him again. He couldn't die without knowing what Kakashi's favourite colour was, or whether he preferred turkey or chicken. He wanted to make love to him again. He wanted Kakashi to make love to _him_.

But more important than any of that was the simple fact that Iruka refused to kill himself and hurt Kakashi in such a way. He refused to let Kakashi find him like that, not when he had found his father in the same way. He wouldn't do that to Kakashi. He would rather die than hurt him, but if his death would cause him pain, then he simply wouldn't die.

Shinichi snapped his arm up and blocked the next swipe of the tanto, but Iruka swept out with his foot and forced the missing-nin to jump into the air to avoid being knocked to the ground. Iruka spun around and cut a red gash through Shinichi's midsection while he was still in mid air, and brought the blade down in a sweeping arc when the boy stumbled backwards, holding his hand against the wound.

But an instant before the blade touched him, Shinichi brought his leg up in a powerful roundhouse kick and send Iruka staggering to the side. The next moment Shinichi was on him, knocking him to the ground and the tanto from his hand.

He was bigger than Shinichi, heavier than him and far stronger. He grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him off, sending him tumbling over Iruka's head and into the tree behind them.

He scrambled for the tanto lying in the browning leaves to his side, and leapt to his feet, only to come to an abrupt halt when Shinichi held his hand up, and waved the small vial he had there.

Iruka shoved his hand into his pocket, and felt his insides twist when he found it empty.

Shinichi had stolen the antidote back.

"I'll smash it," Shinichi said, breathing heavily, "you can't win. I won't let you. You _are_ going to die."

The missing-nin wrapped his fingers firmly around the vial and climbed to his feet. Blood was seeping down his neck from a wound hidden somewhere in his dark hair, "you can't tell, not with the branches so thick above us, but it's raining pretty heavily now."

Iruka felt his bones freeze. Shinichi was right. The rain wasn't falling overly hard within the forest, but he could still see the dampness that had invaded the clearing, the trickle of rainwater that made it past the canopy of leaves overhead.

"It would be easy to kill you," Shinichi growled, "and make no mistake, I _will_ kill you. But it will hurt him more if you kill yourself."

Iruka swallowed. He opened his mouth, to tell Shinichi that Kakashi hadn't killed his brother. But he wasn't even sure of that himself. Kakashi hadn't actually _said _that he hadn't done it. He tried to think back upon the conversation he had had with Kakashi, to the words the jounin had used to make Iruka believe that he hadn't been the one to take the life of Shinichi's brother.

"You're running out of time," Shinichi said, "I will give them the antidote. I promise that much. But unless you do what I want, then all of you will die."

Iruka couldn't breathe. He looked around at the small figures cluttering the clearing, and felt tears prickle his eyes. He didn't know if he believed Shinichi when he said that he wouldn't leave his students to die, but he had no other options. He had forgotten about the rain. Shinichi could kill him easily, Iruka had never stood a chance. If he didn't do what the missing-nin wanted then he would be killed, and his students would die.

He looked down at the tanto in his hand and felt sick.

"Kakashi is a good person," he said softly, "he doesn't deserve this."

"I don't care," Shinichi replied.

Iruka breathed in, cold with defeat. He didn't know what else to do, and there was no time left. His heart was pounding wildly as he angled the blade towards his stomach and looked back up at Shinichi.

The look of eagerness on the missing-nin's face made Iruka feel nauseous. He couldn't let that expression be the last thing he ever saw, but everywhere he looked he saw the dying forms of his students.

He squeezed his eyes shut as the tip of the blade touched his abdomen, and tried to remember exactly what Kakashi had looked like that morning, when he had been standing naked in the middle of the room holding a frantic Pakkun in his hands. Despite the situation, Iruka smiled.

And put all of his strength into thrusting the blade into his gut.

But all of his strength didn't make a difference when a pair of hands grabbed his own and held them still.

His eyes flew open, and his heart nearly gave out when he looked into Kakashi's fathomless eye.

Iruka smiled weakly in relief and whispered "yo."

oO0Oo

Shinichi felt his entire world begin to crumble around the edges. Sharingan Kakashi had just appeared out of nowhere, he had ruined everything. He had taken everything from him and now he was taking his revenge too.

He had left his village behind. He had become a missing-nin. He had _murdered_ his best friend. If he died now, without achieving anything, then it would all have been for nothing.

Kakashi had his back to Shinichi, holding Iruka's hands still and keeping the tanto from piercing his flesh. But he turned his head to look over his shoulder, and the Sharingan spun furiously towards him. Shinichi's breath caught in his chest when he saw the sheer amount of hatred directed at him from that single red eye.

But then he remembered his own hate. He was the one who hated. Kakashi had lost nothing, yet Shinichi had lost everything. He deserved his hatred; Kakashi deserved to be hated. He matched Kakashi's glare and crushed the antidote vial in his hand as he felt the vast resources of fury he had stored inside him start to crack open.

"No!" the schoolteacher leapt forwards when the glass in his hand shattered. The Copy-nin had to wrap his arms around him to stop him from leaping towards Shinichi.

"No! Kakashi, that was the antidote," Iruka gasped as he tried to break free of Kakashi's hold, "he poisoned the students! With the poison you and Gai were almost killed by! They'll die…"

"Iruka," Kakashi said, softly but firmly, "Iruka, they aren't poisoned."

Iruka froze, but Shinichi jerked in surprise. How could the Copy-nin possibly know that?

"W-what?" Iruka blinked, and as Kakashi loosened his hold upon him he turned to look into Kakashi's face.

"How can you be sure?" Shinichi snarled, clenching his fists tighter and pressing the small fragments of glass into his palm.

The Copy-nin turned to fully face Shinichi, and Shinichi felt a tiny shiver of panic pass through him. The expression on Kakashi's masked face could turn flesh to stone.

"Because their skin should be blistered and swollen by now," he said in a low, dangerous voice, "they should be having difficulty breathing. And then there's the fact that the poison that antidote was for hasn't been replicated."

Shinichi's guts clenched together. Dread was swimming through his blood, along with adrenaline that made him struggle to catch his breath. He had never intended to go after Kakashi himself. But he had nothing more to lose, and he had no other way out. He needed to make Kakashi pay.

He needed to kill him.

oO0Oo

Iruka's thoughts were swimming. He had almost killed himself. He had almost committed suicide to save the lives of his students who weren't even poisoned to begin with. When he took a closer look he realised that they were sedated. They were breathing deeply and evenly, perfectly relaxed in their slumber. Iruka had almost killed himself for nothing.

He had never been so angry in his life.

When he turned back to Shinichi he had to reign in the desire to use the tanto in his hand to cut the skin from his face. The hateful expression the missing-nin was aiming at Kakashi made Iruka want to see his blood on the leaves. He had pitied Shinichi, but he had no pity left inside him. He had been prepared to die. He had been holding the blade against his abdomen. He had been killing himself when Kakashi stopped him. He couldn't pity Shinichi after that.

But before he could act on the impulse to use the tanto to hurt the missing-nin, Shinichi's hands were blurring together, dancing through movement. It was only when the rain roared louder than before did he realise that he was forming seals.

The rain came crashing through the canopy of leaves in a wave of liquid beads. The leaves above were ripped to shreds, the branches were torn apart, and the rain streamed down over them in a violent torrent.

He yelled out, turning his head away and raising his arms in a futile attempt to protect himself. But the roaring continued while Iruka remained dry.

He lowered his arm hesitantly, and watched as the rain swept around the clearing like a cyclone, undulating in devastating waves but not touching anyone in the clearing. Shinichi's face was a mask of furious concentration as his fingers held the final seal of his jutsu, but Iruka couldn't understand why they were still alive, until he looked at Kakashi, and realised that Kakashi was standing in the same position as Shinichi, holding the same seal, and frowning in concentration.

He had copied it. Even as Shinichi had been performing the jutsu, Kakashi had copied it.

"Oh shit," Iruka whispered to himself as the rain continued to roll around the clearing. It was clear that both Shinichi and Kakashi were pushing chakra through the water, but he had no idea which of them had more chakra, he didn't know who would be able to hold out the longest, and he knew that the Sharingan depleted Kakashi's chakra.

He was immensely grateful that the students were still unconscious.

The roar of the rain became a deafening hiss. Iruka blinked, and then the rain was shooting inwards rather than circling them. He froze in fright, but the rain hissed past him, over the students and shot towards Shinichi.

But Iruka saw Shinichi drop to his knees and form a new seal. The water that had been about to rip him apart seemed to halt mere inches from him, until the rain had formed a wall of water all around him. Iruka couldn't even see Shinichi through the rain, only a blur of colour through the rippling water that separated him from Iruka and Kakashi.

Almost simultaneously, both Kakashi and Shinichi must have released the seals. The water dropped suddenly, dragged to the ground by gravity without chakra keeping it mobile. Everything was drenched in rainwater; it splashed against the ground and gushed outwards, carrying leaves across the clearing.

Iruka panicked, looking to each of his students in fright to make sure than none of them were face down in puddles and drowning. He turned back to Kakashi when he knew they were alright, and rushed towards him when he saw how he was doubled over, panting heavily.

"Kakashi?" Iruka skidded in the mud to Kakashi's side, and frowned in worry when he saw how Kakashi was screwing the Sharingan closed.

Shinichi was on all fours, gasping for breath. He was the only one left who was still dry. The water had crashed outwards and hadn't touched him.

The missing-nin wasn't even looking at them. His head was hanging loosely as he tried to catch his breath. Iruka flipped the tanto in his hand, glaring angrily, and charged towards the youth.

But he was stopped a firm hand on his wrist. He turned to stare incredulously at Kakashi, unable to fathom that Kakashi was trying to save the person who wanted nothing more than to cause him pain.

But Kakashi raised his head and looked towards Shinichi though his dripping hair.

"I…" he breathed heavily, "I didn't kill Zabuza."

oO0Oo

Kakashi released Iruka's wrist and straightened up. He hadn't realised how much chakra that jutsu would use up. It had eaten away at almost everything he had. If he dared to open the Sharingan he was afraid he would drop like a stone after only a few minutes.

But Shinichi was in worse shape. He could kill him now and finish it. But something inside him screamed out in protest at the thought. It was all a misunderstanding. Shinichi was looking for revenge upon the wrong person; he was in pain and suffering, but he didn't need to die.

Shinichi raised his head slowly when Kakashi spoke. His eyes were wide and uncomprehending. When he met Kakashi's gaze, something pleading entered his expression, as though he wanted Kakashi to take it back.

"No," he said, almost too softly to hear, "you… you're lying…"

"Why would I lie?" Kakashi asked, still regaining his breath, "it's over. You can barely stand."

"I…" Shinichi frowned and tried to push himself to his feet, but stumbled and fell back to his knees.

"Iruka still has all of his chakra," Kakashi said, "the only thing stopping him from killing you is me."

Shinichi met Kakashi's gaze again, and his face twisted in anguish, "you're lying. You're lying, you killed him, I saw the body…"

"I fought him," Kakashi said, "but I didn't kill him."

"The boy with him…"

"I _did _kill Haku," Kakashi said quietly, "but not your brother."

A tear spilled over Shinichi's eyelashes and fell down his cheek, "no. You have to be lying."

"He isn't lying," Iruka said suddenly, with firm authority.

Shinichi's eyes darted from Kakashi to Iruka and back again. When he blinked, more tears poured down his face. He looked so young, with wide, tear filled eyes and a pleading expression. Kakashi felt sorry for him then, for the grief he hadn't been able to express properly.

"No," Shinichi hissed. Kakashi blinked in surprise when the missing-nin's features compressed in anger, "you lying! You killed my brother!"

Shinichi was on his feet and moving before Kakashi could think of anything else to say. Iruka shoved him out of the way when the braid Shinichi had with him whipped through the air towards them, missing him by a breath.

He regained his bearings after a moment. He had tried, he hadn't wanted this to end in the boy's death, but that didn't mean that he wouldn't kill Shinichi. When he swung the braid again, Kakashi turned his palm upwards and hoped he had more chakra than he thought.

He pushed his chakra into his palm, manipulating it into lightning. When the braid sailed towards his face, he braced himself and slammed his palm into the golden length.

His hand went straight through the braid, cleaving it in two. Both halves fell heavy and limp to the ground.

And across the clearing, he heard Shinichi sob out a word that sounded something like "Jin." But before he could turn to look towards the youth, the forest was plunged into mist, and the last he saw of Shinichi's face was an expression of utter confusion.

oO0Oo

It wasn't his mist. But it was the Hidden Mist technique. He would recognise it anywhere, but he didn't understand where it had come from. He clutched Jin's braid, what was left of it, his heart still beating in pain when he recalled what Kakashi had done to it.

Before he had time to react, there were claws at his neck. He recognised the claws she always wore on her hands before he recognised the sharp violet of her eyes. He was struck senseless with shock, unable to comprehend that she was here.

"Sensei?" he gasped, blinking away the last of his tears to look into her face.

"I always seem to be cleaning up after you, Shinichi," she said coldly, tightening her grip on his neck and causing the blades to nick his skin.

He moved his eyes past her, to the figure he could see over her shoulder. Narumi was standing a few feet away, wide eyed and worried, but she sighed in relief when Shinichi looked at her.

"Do you have any idea what we've been going through?" the young girl asked, "we thought you were dead Shinichi-kun!"

He still couldn't understand. He had made himself believe that he would never see them again, yet they were right in front of him. His teacher was squeezing his neck, like she always did whenever he had pissed her off. Narumi hands were clasped together, the scars on her cheek moving fluidly as she chewed her lower lip.

It was the sight of her scars, the three thin lines caused by strands of Jin's hair, that brought his entire situation slamming into him. A sob broke out of his chest as fresh tears welled in his eyes. Jin was dead. He had killed Jin, and now his last remaining teammate and his jounin-sensei were looking at him like they always did, with equal measures of warmth and ice.

He saw his sensei's eyes flit down to the braid in his hand. He saw realisation dawn on her features when her customary scowl became a glower.

"Shinichi," he said, "where's Jin?"

"Jin?" Narumi gasped, "so he has been here? He said he was going to…"

He saw Narumi realise then. Her almond eyes had found what was left of Jin's braid held in his hand. She gasped and looked back into Shinichi's face, pleading with her eyes for him to explain.

"I…" he could barely breathe with the hold his sensei had on his neck. He couldn't find the words. He had killed Jin. But it had all been for nothing because it hadn't been Kakashi…

He cried out in agony then. It hadn't been Sharingan Kakashi who had killed Zabuza. Everything he had done, all of the sins he had committed, it had all been for nothing. The realisation destroyed him. He hadn't wanted to believe it. He had thought that he could tell himself that Kakashi was lying, that if he killed Kakashi it wouldn't matter if he was lying or not, he would have his revenge.

But there was no revenge. There was never any revenge. Kakashi was innocent, and Shinichi had given up everything for nothing.

"I killed Jin," he gasped as he wept, "I killed him sensei."

She simply watched him cry. He couldn't bear to look at Narumi, he couldn't bear to know that what he had done had hurt her as much as it hurt him. He had thought that he understood what it was to feel his soul dying inside him, but the pain he felt when he found Zabuza's body, the pain he felt when he held Jin's body in his arms, was nothing compared to this.

"I'm sorry," he gasped, knowing it wasn't enough, "I'm so sorry sensei."

The grip on his neck loosened slightly, "I know you are Shinichi," she said.

"No…" he squeezed his eyes shut, "no, you don't. It was for nothing. I wanted revenge, but I was wrong the whole time. I killed him for nothing."

"Shh," the woman sighed, "we're going home."

Shinichi thought of his home. Of the squirrel in his yard that Jin had never been able to catch no matter how hard he tried. Of the seafood stand at the end of the high street, where Jin would always order food and charge it to Shinichi's tab without telling him. He _hurt_ just thinking of home, because home hadn't been a place, it had been a person.

He had destroyed everything. Ever since Zabuza had left him he had convinced himself that he had no family left, when he had been _surrounded_ by family. His teacher was always marching uninvited into his home and sneering at the dust, hitting him until he started cleaning, yelling at him to buy more vegetables, tying him to a chair so that she could give him a haircut. He had always told himself that she hated him, but now that he had finally lost everything he knew that he had been lying to himself. She had been the scary, overbearingly strict mother he had never had.

And Narumi had always smiled at him, even when he did nothing but scowl. She had yelled at everyone who whispered maliciously about the brother of Zabuza behind his back, she had forced laughter out of him and dragged him out of his house when he became unsociable. And Jin…

Jin had been more of a brother than Zabuza had ever been.

He had been surrounded by family the whole time. And he had ignored them. He couldn't look at Narumi because she had loved Jin too, and now she would hate him. His teacher would want nothing more to do with him. He would probably be executed when he returned to Hidden Mist. He had come to Konoha thinking he had nothing left, but he had been horribly wrong. And now he had destroyed his life. For nothing.

"I'm sorry," he said again, drowning in regret, just wanting it to end.

He jerked his head to the side, impaling his throat upon the claws wrapped around it.

oO0Oo

Iruka almost fell over Kakashi. He had been moving through the mist, trying to find the jounin, only to find him sitting on the ground.

"Kakashi!" Iruka dropped into a crouch beside him, "what are you doing? Get up, Shinichi is somewhere in this mist!"

He noticed then how laboured Kakashi's breathing seemed, "I don't think we need to worry about Shinichi anymore."

Iruka frowned and peered carefully into Kakashi's face. Even through the mist he looked exhausted. Iruka tensed in worry and groped for Kakashi's hand.

"What do you mean?" he asked as he squeezed Kakashi's fingers.

"I can smell blood," he replied, "a lot of it."

Iruka frowned, but said nothing. If Kakashi decided that there was nothing to worry about, then Iruka wouldn't worry about anything but Kakashi. He fell into a sitting position beside him and pressed himself as close to the jounin as he could.

"You used up all your chakra, didn't you," Iruka said, smiling fondly.

"Well…" Kakashi dropped his head onto Iruka's shoulder, "maybe that Raikiri was pushing it a little."

Iruka shook his head and sighed exasperatedly, "what am I going to do with you?"

He turned, fully alert again when he caught the muted sound of barking reaching them through the mist, "who's that?"

"It's Pakkun," Kakashi said, "I sent him to get reinforcements."

"They're late," Iruka scowled into the mist.

Kakashi laughed. Iruka whipped around to face him, enthralled by the sound. It was the second time he had heard Kakashi laugh like that, and it was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard. He was filled with something warm and blissful.

The laughter died however when the mist shrank away. Iruka was on his feet before the clearing had come back into view, placing himself in front of Kakashi and tensing for a fight. But he stumbled slightly when he caught sight of Shinichi.

The kunoichi leaning over him tugged off the claws she was wearing on her hands, and reached up to close Shinichi's eyes. Iruka felt numb. There was a savage gash in Shinichi's neck; blood was staining the ground and his clothes, it was splattered over the kunoichi's uniform.

The girl standing behind the kunoichi had her head bowed. Iruka couldn't see her face through her hair, but he could hear her ragged breaths and knew that she was crying.

Shinichi was dead. Iruka simply felt cold. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the body. He didn't know how to feel. He wanted to be glad, but he wasn't.

The kunoichi rose to her feet, uncurling from her crouch like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon. She turned to look at them when the mist was completely gone, and the cold violet of her eyes seemed to pierce Iruka's mind.

In a whirl of leaves the clearing was suddenly full of people. Iruka turned to see Tsume standing beside him, with Hana just behind her. Hyuuga Hiashi was on his other side, surrounded by a sea of his family members. Genma and Raido were across the clearing, checking on the sedated students. Ino and her father were on the other side of the clearing; Ino's face was shadowed in anger. And when Iruka turned to check, Gai was kneeling beside Kakashi, and Pakkun was scrambling all over the jounin, searching for injuries.

Iruka breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to the violet eyed kunoichi. She was still looking straight at him over the body of Shinichi. Iruka felt something pang within him when he looked down at the lifeless body of the boy.

"Your Hokage contacted the Mizukage," the woman said, with a voice as cold as her eyes, "we were sent to apprehend Momochi Shinichi. We'll be taking the body with us."

The girl behind her raised her arm to rub her eyes, and Iruka wondered, with a hollow sense of pity, whether the girl had known Shinichi.

The clearing was deadly silent as a film of mist draped itself from the broken branches above and obscured the view of the two kunoichi and Shinichi's body. Iruka waited in silence, watching the mist intently while the shinobi around him moved and murmured. When the mist finally fell away, the Mist-nin were gone.

He kept expecting to feel something. But he felt nothing. Not even relief. If this was a victory then it felt like a hollow one.

Iruka turned to check on his students. He bristled in fear when he couldn't see them, until he spun around and saw each one of them in the arms of a Leaf shinobi. Konohamaru was the first to stir, groaning loudly in Hyuuga Hiashi's arms. The clan head raised a disdainful eyebrow as he looked down at the bundle in his arms, but Iruka was shocked even to see the man holding a child.

But when he looked, they were all carrying one of his students, all apart from Gai who was practically carrying Kakashi.

Iruka rushed over to the jounin, and draped Kakashi's arm over his shoulder.

"I'll take him Gai," he said.

"Of course, Iruka-sensei," Gai beamed as he carefully released Kakashi.

"I can stand up by myself you know," Kakashi rolled his eyes.

Iruka smiled and wrapped his arm around his waist, "tough," he said, "I'm not letting go."


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapter Nineteen**

Kakashi gasped as he opened his eyes. The ceiling swam above him, shimmering beyond the moisture in his eyes. He had been dreaming, but instead of finding his father's body at the end of the dream, he had found Iruka's bloodied body in the garden of his old house. The change to the dream had taken him by surprise, he had jerked out of sleep, with unshed tears pooled behind his lashes.

It hadn't been real. It was just a dream; the same dream he had had so many times in the past, but with a different ending. It had been Iruka's body, not his father's, but Iruka wasn't dead, he was alive, he was fine.

Kakashi crawled out from beneath the sheets, glancing frantically around Iruka's bedroom. He was alone, only the lingering scent of jasmine clinging to the pillow proved that Iruka had been there at all. The dream was still fresh in his mind, the image of Iruka's corpse was right there whenever he blinked, waiting behind his eyelids to torture him. The silence was suffocating, as though he was the only living thing in the world. He stood up on slightly unsteady legs and padded swiftly towards the door.

He stumbled on the stairs, and scowled at himself, confused by the sluggish quality to his movements. It took him a moment to remember the battle in the forest, the fight with Momochi Shinichi and the drain on his chakra. He rushed down the stairs, panicked suddenly when he recalled how Iruka had been holding that tanto against his abdomen. He knew that Iruka was fine, he could remember how the fight had ended: Shinichi's lifeless body lying on the dirt and Iruka holding him up in his weakened state, but he could still see Iruka sprawled in his old garden whenever he closed his eyes, with a tanto piercing his stomach and blood staining the grass.

It hadn't been real, it had been a dream, but Kakashi raced down the stairs and halted in the main room, breathing heavily as he looked around for Iruka. He needed to find Iruka, he needed to hold him and calm the panicked thumping of his heart.

After a moment of stillness in the main room, staring at the little touches of Iruka all around him, he heard movement from the kitchen, and a loudly hissed "damn!"

It felt as though he had been submerged in sunshine. Relief washed over him, caressing his insides with warmth. He moved silently towards the kitchen, gliding across the floorboards with bare feet. When he turned into the doorway he stilled, his eyes immediately drawn to Iruka standing across the room. The chuunin had his back to him, reaching up into the cupboard over his head and humming in contemplation of the cupboard's contents.

Kakashi felt as though he was separated from his body, as though he was watching someone else's life with envious longing. The man across the room couldn't be his, he couldn't belong to Kakashi, because it was so perfect, the entire scene: Iruka searching for breakfast within the cupboards and Kakashi standing in the doorway watching him. He was living someone else's life, stealing moments from another man's morning. If he turned away from Iruka he would surely be back in his own apartment, alone, and these stolen moments would be just a memory.

He was on the other side of the room in an instant, wrapping his arms around Iruka and burying his face into the back of his neck. The chuunin gasped in surprise, his arms still reaching up into the cupboard, with his fingers clutching a bag of flour. Kakashi breathed him in, closing his eyes and allowing his hands to travel up Iruka's chest, drinking in the shape of Iruka's body beneath his palms.

"You're awake," Iruka said softly. Kakashi could hear the smile in the chuunin's voice; he opened his eyes in time to see Iruka drop the bag of flour onto the counter in front of him before he twisted around in Kakashi's arms. Kakashi moved his hands over every part of Iruka that he could reach, as though the chuunin would fade away if he dared to let go of him even for an instant.

"How do you feel?" Iruka asked as his hands snaked around Kakashi's shoulders, he was peering worriedly into Kakashi's eyes, as though his irises could communicate to him in words of grey and red. Kakashi felt something melt inside him, because he could barely remember a time when anyone had worried about him, with that same shadow of concern in their eyes.

Kakashi pressed closer to Iruka, until their lips were only a heated breath apart and Kakashi's vision was filled with the chocolate brown of Iruka's eyes.

"Wonderful," he pressed his reply onto Iruka's lips, tightening his arms around him as some unnameable emotion swelled inside him. It might have been love, but Kakashi was so new to the sensation that he was reluctant to name it.

Iruka parted his lips beneath Kakashi's with desperate enthusiasm, moaning softly as Kakashi lapped at the taste of him with lazy strokes of his tongue. The chuunin's arms tightened around him, drawing him closer as his fingers pressed into his shoulder blades. He wondered if Iruka could taste the relief on his tongue, the gratefulness he felt knowing that Iruka was safe in his arms. He was guiltily glad that Shinichi was dead, gone so that he couldn't harm them anymore. He tried to communicate that to Iruka, he tried to show him how grateful he was with the caress of his lips and the curl of his tongue.

He pressed Iruka back into the counter in his desire to get closer to him, to move past the barrier of clothes and skin and melt into him until they were one person. He could feel the heavy beat of Iruka's heart as their chests pressed together, and it was an uncharacteristically romantic notion that made him believe that the beating of Iruka's heart would keep him alive even if his own heart was torn from his chest.

He was leaning Iruka back over the counter, bending him backwards but unwilling to relinquish the hold he had on him. Kakashi was wearing only a pair of uniform pants, but Iruka's shirt was preventing the contact of skin on skin between them. He needed to touch Iruka everywhere, to ascertain that he was here and he was real, and that the image from his dreams was nothing more than a shadow of his fears, that the threat of Shinichi was gone for good. His fingers fumbled with the hem of Iruka's shirt before he tugged it up, revealing the rich expanse of Iruka's chest as Kakashi stepped back to admire him.

oO0Oo

Iruka lifted his arms in an attempt to help Kakashi drag his shirt off. Kissing Kakashi had unwound something inside him, he had been tense and on edge ever since the previous day, ever since the abrupt end to their struggle with Shinichi in the forest. It was almost as though he hadn't been able to believe that it was over, a part of him was still waiting for a deadly blow, for a fatal strike to cut him down. He hadn't been able to relax because there hadn't been a resolution to the threat of Shinichi in his mind, inside he was still fighting, because even though Shinichi had been defeated, he hadn't been defeated by _them_, they hadn't even seen it happen, and he wasn't ready to believe that it was over.

But kissing Kakashi, the attention of his lips and his hands on his body, had untied the knot that had been sitting in his gut. There was his resolution, in the way Kakashi stepped back to look at him, with awe in his eyes that Iruka couldn't deserve, but received anyway. The rest of the world was a distant thought with Kakashi looking at him as though he was the most magnificent thing he had ever seen. Nothing else existed but him and Kakashi.

He didn't know who moved first, whether he pushed himself away from the counter before Kakashi moved towards him, all that mattered was that they met somewhere in the middle and Kakashi's hands were back on him and his lips were pressing unspoken promises against his own. He splayed his palms out over Kakashi's back, letting his fingertips worship his skin, and made half formed sounds in the back of his throat as Kakashi sucked his tongue into his mouth.

His ass was against the counter again, he hadn't even realised that they had moved, Kakashi had stolen all of his awareness until the only indication he had that he was being lifted up was the feeling of Kakashi's hands on his ass and how he didn't have to tilt his head up to kiss Kakashi, but down. Sitting on the counter he had to part his legs to get Kakashi as close as possible to him, he slid himself to the very edge of the worktop and wrapped himself around the jounin, hooking his legs around his waist and his arms around his neck until Kakashi was trapped between his thighs and within the circle of his arms. He cried out when Kakashi's fingers drew circles upon his chest, dancing around his nipples and making him ache with longing. He clutched Kakashi as tightly to him as he could, pressing his heels into his ass so that they were grinding against each other. He could feel the stiff outline of Kakashi's cock upon his inner thigh, and his hips jerked into Kakashi's abdomen as the jounin groaned into his mouth.

He dropped his hands onto the counter when Kakashi curled his fingers around the waistband of his pants, so that he could prop himself up on his arms as he lifted his hips, helping Kakashi pull his trousers off and lay him bare. He was vaguely aware of the flour exploding over the counter when he knocked it with his hand, and of the open cupboard door behind him when he hit the back of his head on it, but those were inconsequential occurrences compared to the way Kakashi's eyes raked over him, drinking in the sight of Iruka's naked body spread open for him.

Kakashi's hands smoothed down over his thighs, until they hooked beneath his knees and pulled Iruka back to the edge of the counter, back into Kakashi's body. Iruka yelled out when Kakashi's hand wrapped around his erection. There was a thud and a crash from somewhere, he had knocked something else when he swept his arms back around Kakashi's neck, but he didn't care. Kakashi's tongue was back in his mouth, their chests were pressed together so tightly that he could feel the beat of Kakashi's heart answering his own, and Kakashi's hand was moving, killing him with slow strokes that had Iruka jerking his hips with the desire for the movement to be faster.

Kakashi's lips left his with a wet smack, leaving them tingling and swollen. He opened his eyes to see Kakashi watching him, looking at his face as he slowly tortured Iruka with the movement of his hand. Iruka wrapped his own fingers around Kakashi's, squeezing until all of the breath in his lungs caught fire, and pumped faster, vaguely aware of the wanton sounds coming out of his mouth.

Kakashi removed his hand from Iruka's erection, making him whimper at the loss. He couldn't speak, there wasn't enough air for words, he couldn't complain when Kakashi snatched his hand away, preventing him from touching himself. But he had forgotten about Kakashi's other hand, he gasped in surprise when he felt a slick finger sliding down the underside of his erection.

He panted for breath as he glanced to the side, to the olive oil he had knocked over, with a single palm print pressed into the spillage from where Kakashi had put his hand. Kakashi held Iruka's hand away from his cock as those fingers, dripping with olive oil, traced patterns over his balls and caused them to tighten until Iruka thought he would explode.

He hit his head on the cupboard door again when he leant back, tilting his hips in an unconscious invitation. Kakashi was still watching his face, and Iruka wanted to turn away, to prevent Kakashi from seeing the pleasure in his expression, but he was captured by the look in Kakashi's eyes, and the knowledge that Kakashi was watching him caused the ache between his legs to increase.

Then Kakashi was stroking the cleft of his ass and Iruka unravelled. He thrust his own hand over Kakashi's and pressed one of the jounin's fingers into him, biting his lip hard enough to draw blood. Kakashi groaned, and his eyes left Iruka's face to watch his finger sink into Iruka's body.

"More… Kakashi…" Iruka choked out, slamming his head back into the cupboard door as he screwed his eyes shut. Kakashi was moving his fingers with the same lazy, slow caresses that he had bestowed upon Iruka's dripping erection. His orgasm was building and building beneath his skin, but there wasn't enough stimulation to push him over the edge, he was just climbing higher and higher until the sensations were almost unbearable.

He felt the jounin scissor his fingers, stretching him carefully and watching with wide, awed eyes. Iruka moved his hands back to his cock, almost sobbing when he touched his over-heated flesh.

"Don't," Kakashi said hoarsely, looking right into Iruka's eyes. He hadn't made a move to stop Iruka from touching himself, he hadn't stopped the scissoring motions of his fingers, but just his voice made Iruka fall still, made his fingers loosen from around his cock.

"I want you to come while I'm inside you," Kakashi said in a low, husky tone, and Iruka felt his erection swell just from Kakashi's words. He moved his hands without any conscious thought on his part, and gripped the edge of the counter to brace himself. But when he glanced down he saw the dark material of Kakashi's trousers.

"Kakashi…" Iruka reached between them and yanked desperately on the waistband of Kakashi's pants, "take them off!"

There was a moment of stillness, when Kakashi seemed to stop breathing, and then his fingers were gone, leaving Iruka bereft and empty, but Kakashi pushed his trousers over his hips so quickly that he almost ripped them, then he was stepping out of them, stepping back between Iruka's legs, and he could see the jounin's cock, thick and flushed and leaking pearls of pre-come.

Iruka swiped his hand through the olive oil dripping off the counter, and reached for Kakashi, cupping the man's thick erection in his slickened hand and revelling in the heat and the weight of him in his palm. He curled his fingers around him and pumped his hand, watching more pearls form on the tip of Kakashi's cock and licking his lips.

He moaned in anticipation when Kakashi's hands gripped his hips; Iruka let go of Kakashi's erection and raised his knees, wrapping his legs firmly around the jounin's waist and pulling him closer, until he could feel the slickened head of Kakashi's erection against his ass.

Kakashi froze for a second, he seemed to hesitate, and Iruka was about to start begging, but then Kakashi's grip on his hips tightened, and Iruka groaned loudly as he was stretched to breaking point around Kakashi's cock.

His hands flew to Kakashi's shoulders, clasping hard, digging his fingernails into the jounin's pale skin. Kakashi was still pushing into him, filling him until the burn in his stretched muscles had spread throughout his entire body, setting all of his nerves on fire.

Seated upon the counter, with his head against the cupboard, there was no room for Iruka to move, no way for him to press down onto Kakashi. He was at the mercy of the jounin's movement, waiting for him to pull out and push back in again, helpless to relieve the pressure building inside him. He clutched harder at Kakashi, whimpering obscenely as he drew slowly out, and the friction made him shudder, his entire body was shaking.

"Kakashi…" Iruka gasped, trying to press the jounin back into him by digging his heels into his lower back, but Kakashi refused to speed up, he pulled out of Iruka until only the head of his cock was resting within him. Iruka parted his lips, ready to beg, when Kakashi's mouth was upon him, his tongue thrusting against Iruka's and drawing mewling sounds out of his chest.

His cry was swallowed by Kakashi when he thrust back into him, slamming back into Iruka's body and causing an agony of writhing pleasure to tighten between his legs. They weren't kissing anymore, they were panting into one another's mouths, and Iruka hadn't touched his erection, hadn't stroked himself once, but on the next thrust he came anyway, erupting with white hot pleasure over his stomach. He had come apart at the seams, but Kakashi was still rocking his hips into him, and with each thrust Iruka was sewn back together, one stitch at a time.

His hands swept over Kakashi's shoulders, along the slender curve his neck, until he could cup the jounin's face and bring their lips back together. He flicked his tongue over Kakashi's bottom lip, and continued to make small, satisfied sounds as Kakashi moved. Then he felt Kakashi's cock swell inside him, and Kakashi cried out Iruka's name, yelled it against Iruka's lips, as the thrusting of his hips slowed to a stop.

Kakashi dropped his sweat dappled forehead onto Iruka's shoulder, a moment before his legs gave out and he collapsed onto the kitchen floor. Iruka, who had been holding onto the jounin, with his legs wrapped firmly around him, yelped when he went tumbling off the counter with him.

oO0Oo

Kakashi groaned when his knees hit the floor. Iruka was still holding onto him, and even though his softening cock had slipped out of Iruka's entrance, he still whimpered slightly when Iruka landed heavily in his lap and crushed his sensitive flesh between them.

He was still twitching with the aftershocks of his orgasm. If he had had enough breath in his lungs he would have laughed; he had never had sex with a man, in the sense that he had never had his cock up another man's ass, but if _that_ was what it felt like then he would swear off women for the rest of his life.

He tilted his head back to look into Iruka's flushed face, and decided to swear off everyone but Iruka instead. It wasn't just the fact that it was another man, it was the fact that it was Iruka, who made the most wonderful sounds, and who blushed so beautifully. He was in love with Umino Iruka, and even though it was terrifying, he wouldn't give it up for anything.

Iruka blinked the glazed look out of his eyes and graced Kakashi with a smile.

"Pancakes?" the chunnin breathed.

Kakashi grinned, glancing around at the mess they had made of the kitchen. There was flour on his right, over the counter and covering the floor, and there was olive oil to the left, dripping down the cupboards to form a little puddle on the tiles.

"You…" Iruka breathed in, "you're feeling alright, then? You need to go to the hospital today remember…"

"Huh?" Kakashi shifted his weight, so that he wasn't resting on his knees but sitting on the floor with Iruka in his lap.

"The Hokage told you to go and see her today," Iruka said, "in the hospital, remember?"

Kakashi frowned in thought. He couldn't even remember getting to Iruka's house. The last thing he could recall was explaining to the Hokage about the death of Momochi Shinichi, with Iruka holding him up as his eyes drooped. He could vaguely remember someone mentioning something about keeping him in the hospital overnight, and his brief attempt at shaking his head in response, but there was nothing after that.

"She wants to make sure your chakra is recovering, and that the swelling in your arm has gone down," Iruka told him with a fond smile, "how do you feel?"

Kakashi smiled at him and wrapped his arms tightly around him, "like the luckiest person in the world."

oO0Oo

Hanabi raised an eyebrow as Pakkun frowned in concentration. She still didn't believe that the dog could jump up onto the bed without any sort of help, he was only tiny. She watched in fascination as he wiggled a little, and bent his knees, and then she blinked in surprise as Pakkun jumped up into the air and landed easily upon the mattress.

"Not bad," she said.

"I'm not an ordinary dog, remember?" Pakkun huffed as he moved around in a tight little circle and then flopped down over her knees.

"I know," she replied graciously, "you're a nin-dog."

"Damn right."

"It was nice of you to visit me Pakkun-san," she said with a small frown, "but why are you here?"

Pakkun, who had closed his eyes, cracked one eye open to glare at her, "that's a fine way to treat your visitor."

She quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Fine," he sighed, "let's just say I… heard some noises from the kitchen and decided to give Kakashi and his schoolteacher a little alone time."

"You mean they were having sex?" she said.

Pakkun squawked, "how do you even know what sex is?"

Hanabi crossed her arms, "I'm young. Not dense."

Pakkun stared at her for a moment, before huffing in laughter, "you remind me of Kakashi when he was a brat."

Hanabi's expression went slack with shock, "I do?" she asked in a small, pleased voice.

Pakkun nodded, "so… tell me everything you know about your teacher."

"Why?" she asked.

"Because if he's going to become a fixture in Kakashi's life I need to know what to expect," Pakkun replied with an angry scowl, "it was your meddling that got us into this predicament so…"

"It doesn't seem like a predicament to me," Hanabi replied, "if they were having sex in the kitchen then it sounds like they're getting along quite well."

Pakkun's eyes became as round as saucers, "wha… look you… that's beside the point! When it eventually goes belly up…"

"It won't," Hanabi replied sternly, "I won't let it."

"Oh, you won't will you," Pakkun replied sceptically, "and what could you possibly do about it?"

Hanabi met his gaze evenly, "you have no idea how easy it is for a little girl to manipulate an adult."

Pakkun regarded her for a moment, blinking slowly, "why are you so eager for this to work out anyway?"

Hanabi shrugged, "Iruka-sensei is happier when Kakashi-sensei is around." She smiled to herself when she thought back on all of the times she had seen the two of them together: outside the Academy when Kakashi-sensei had held onto Iruka-sensei's arm to prevent him from leaving, and under the bridge when they had kissed. Iruka-sensei had turned bright red whenever Kakashi-sensei was mentioned in class, and he had been frantic that time in the hospital when Kakashi-sensei had left without Iruka-sensei realising it. Iruka-sensei was the best teacher she had ever had, and it was obvious that he cared about all of his students; it was only fair that his students care about him in return, and Hanabi did care, she wanted him to be happy, and Kakashi-sensei made him happy.

"So this is all about Iruka's happiness," Pakkun growled.

"No," Hanabi snapped, "I mean… it was at first, because I didn't really know Kakashi-sensei. But I had to find out about him to make sure he was good enough for Iruka-sensei, and then…"

Pakkun frowned, "and then?"

Hanabi smiled slightly, "he's nice, Kakashi-sensei, isn't he? He cares about people, even though he tries not to. He always tries to help people, like when he came to visit me and he left you here to keep me company. And he saved my life… so I want him to be happy too."

Pakkun grunted in response, "it'll all end in tears."

"We'll just have to keep an eye on them and make sure they don't screw it up," Hanabi said, "adults are always screwing things up."

Pakkun nodded in response, "you've got that right."

Hanabi whipped her head around towards the door when she noticed someone appear there out of the corner of her eye.

"Hi, Hanabi-chan," Konohamaru grinned widely, "can I come in?"

Hanabi frowned at him, "what do you want?"

His smile faded slightly, the cheerfulness seemed to waver upon his face, "I…" he held his hand out from where he had hidden it behind his back, "I brought you these."

Hanabi blinked in confusion at the flowers he was holding. There were buttercups and daisies and tulips amongst the blooms, as well as begonias and marigolds and daffodils. They were drooping slightly, and did the idiot even know that begonias mean 'beware' and marigolds mean 'cruelty'?

"What would I want with those?" she asked.

Konohamaru bit his lip and looked down at the flowers, "um… I don't know. Moegi said I should bring you flowers. I was going to bring you some exploding tags but she said you wouldn't want them."

Hanabi raised her eyebrows, "I would have preferred the exploding tags."

Konohamaru threw the flowers to the floor, "I knew it! Why the hell do I listen to Moegi about these things? She's a girl!"

Hanabi glared at him, "I'm a girl too, idiot!"

Konohamaru smiled sheepishly, "yeah, but you're not a normal girl. You're a ninja."

Hanabi blinked. Her face felt hot.

"Oh no," Pakkun groaned, "not you as well. It must be catching."

oO0Oo

Kakashi wondered if it was obvious, as he and Iruka strode through the hospital's main entrance shoulder to shoulder, that they were more than just acquaintances, more than just friends. It felt as though it must be blindingly clear how at ease he was in Iruka's presence, how he kept glancing at him and unconsciously walked so close to him. He didn't know if he should want it to be obvious or not. He wanted people to know, he wanted the entire world to know that Iruka was his and he was Iruka's, he wanted everyone to know that he was special to the chuunin, but he didn't want his enemies to know, he didn't want it to be obvious that people like Momochi Shinichi could use Iruka against him. He didn't know if he wanted it to be obvious or if he should try to pretend when in public.

He had told Iruka that he didn't need to accompany him to the hospital, but the chuunin had just quirked an eyebrow at him and as he slipped on his shoes. There was no arguing with that look, Kakashi was helpless against him, he had simply followed meekly towards the hospital, smiling the entire time.

Iruka smiled at the nurse sitting at reception and leant over the counter, "Hatake Kakashi is here to see the Hokage."

Kakashi rolled his eyes, strangely pleased by Iruka's insistence upon taking command of their visit to the hospital. The nurse looked from Iruka to Kakashi, frowning slightly, probably confused by the way Iruka seemed to be mothering Kakashi. Kakashi just grinned down at her and bounced upon the balls of his feet.

"Of course," she said as she consulted the paperwork in front of her, "Hokage-sama is expecting you Hatake-san, you can go straight to…"

"How's Izumo?" Kakashi interrupted, having caught a glimpse of Izumo's file amongst the paperwork.

She blinked, and then peered down at the files, while Iruka turned to frown at him in confusion, "what happened to Izumo?"

"He's recovering," the nurse replied, "he should be able to go home in a few days."

Kakashi nodded and turned to Iruka, "he was given a toxic amount of sedative," he replied, "I'm sorry, I should have thought to tell you…"

"But he's alright?" Iruka glanced back at the nurse for confirmation, and sighed when she nodded.

"Hatake!"

Kakashi turned to look over his shoulder. Tsunade was striding purposefully towards him, handing a medical chart to the medic at her heels without taking her eyes off Kakashi, "you're late!"

"Maa…" Kakashi's eyes curved upwards in amusement, "well, you see, Iruka knocked over this bottle of olive oil and I…"

Iruka slapped his palm over Kakashi's masked mouth, staring at him pointedly and blushing a delicious shade of red.

"I don't have time for your excuses," Tsunade snapped as she walked past him, her heels clacking loudly upon the floor, "I have a meeting with the council in ten minutes so let's get on with this."

Iruka removed his hand from Kakashi's mouth and gave him a gentle shove in the direction Tsunade was heading, "I'm going to visit Sakura and Hanabi," he said, "I'll see you up there?"

Kakashi nodded, smiling behind his mask, and turned away, strolling after the Hokage with a noticeable spring in his step.

Tsunade was standing in the doorway of one of the examination rooms, tapping her fingers against the doorframe impatiently when Kakashi caught up with her. He slipped past her into the room and whirled around to face her when she let the door swing shut.

"Right, get your clothes of."

"I knew it," Kakashi grinned, "couldn't wait to get me alone so that you could…"

"Finish that sentence and I'll slap on the plastic gloves and give you a full rectal examination," she growled.

"Promises promises," Kakashi remarked as he pulled off his flak jacket.

"I take more cheek from you than I do from any other jounin in the village," Tsunade rolled her eyes as she yanked the blue curtain around them, "any headaches? Nausea?"

"I feel fine," Kakashi replied as he pulled off his shirt, "better than ever."

Tsunade smirked, "I'll bet. Open that eye and let me have a look at it."

Kakashi obeyed, and let the Hokage manoeuvre him onto the bed so that she didn't have to crane her neck to inspect the Sharingan. Kakashi sat quite obediently, refraining from any more cheeky remarks as she frowned into his face.

"So," she said, a smirk spreading across her lips, "you and Umino Iruka, huh?"

Kakashi tensed, but the knowing smirk on her face relaxed him. He smiled slightly and tried to repress the urge to fidget like a schoolboy caught in the throws of his first crush.

"I don't know what he sees in you," she sighed dramatically as she stepped back and scribbled something on the chart sitting on the bed next to Kakashi.

His smile vanished. There was an uncomfortable churning in his stomach. "Neither do I," he replied quietly.

Tsunade frowned at him, "I was kidding," she said sternly, before a small smile lightened her face, "in fact, you're quite a catch. If I was ten years younger…"

Kakashi couldn't help himself, "if you were ten years younger you could be my grandmother."

He screwed his eyes shut, waiting for the blow he knew was coming but that he would never try to block seeing as it was _the Hokage_ hitting him. But when nothing happened and no part of his body erupted in pain, he hesitantly cracked his eye open, only to see Tsunade scowling at him. _Then_ she smacked him on the side of the head, hard enough to make his eyes water.

"I always knew you had the hots for me," Kakashi coughed as he rubbed his head.

Tsunade grabbed his arm and attempted to yank it out of its socket, "just so you know," she snapped, "Iruka's a good shinobi, a good teacher, and a good man. If you break his heart I'll crack you open like an egg and pour your entrails out onto the street."

Kakashi goggled at her.

"Of course," she added as she scrutinised his arm, "the same goes for him."

Kakashi blinked, rather shocked at the fierce protectiveness Tsunade had just displayed.

"Well, the swelling has gone down," she let go of him and snatched up the medical chart again to scribble something more onto the pages, "I'll give you a couple of days for your chakra to recover properly, and then you'll be back on active duty."

Kakashi nodded and hopped off the bed.

"Right, get your clothes back on and get out."

"What about my rectal examination?"

This time, Kakashi managed to screw his eyes shut before the medical chart whacked him upside the head.

oO0Oo

Iruka turned back when he heard Izumo's voice. He had been on his way to see Sakura, but he must have just passed the door to Izumo's room because his voice was carrying through the corridor. He wandered back in the direction he had come from, planning to pay Izumo a quick visit to see how he was before he continued on his way to see Sakura.

He stopped outside the room Izumo's voice was coming from, and pushed the door open, but he froze in the doorway, looking into the room where Kotetsu was hovering nervously over Izumo. For some reason he didn't want to go in, it felt as though he would be intruding if he did.

"A… a conch shell?" Iruka watched as Izumo looked up at Kotetsu in confusion. He was holding a large, peach coloured conch shell in his hands while Kotetsu turned green in nervousness. Iruka had never known Kotetsu to be nervous around Izumo, it was almost as though the other man gave him some sort of unnatural confidence, so the anxious hue to his features made Iruka feel as though he was seeing something he shouldn't be.

"Yeah… I…" Kotetsu swallowed, "it's one of mine… it's not as pretty as the other one… the glass one… but I tried to fix it and I couldn't, and then I went back to the market where you got it but they didn't have any left, and I don't have any glass ones but I thought that since the other one was broken and…"

"Kotetsu," Izumo called out to silence his friend, "breathe."

Obediently, Kotetsu sucked in a breath, "if you don't like it I'll just…" he reached out to take the conch shell back, but Izumo snatched the shell away, holding it close to his chest protectively.

"No, I…" he looked down at the shell in his hands, "I _do_ like it," he said softly, "it's… it's much better than the glass one."

Iruka carefully pulled the door shut. He couldn't explain it, but the atmosphere in the room had seemed private, so he continued on his way towards Sakura's room without going in to see Izumo. He'd wait for another time to visit him.

When he reached the corridor that Sakura's room was located upon he met Iashi stepping out of her room and into his path. The medic-nin beamed when he saw Iruka but he didn't move out of Iruka's way.

"Hello Iruka-sensei," Iashi smiled, "what brings you here?"

"I was just on my way to visit Sakura," Iruka replied, returning the medic's smile as he went to move around him, but Iashi danced into his path again, chuckling nervously.

"Um, Iruka-sensei…" Iashi's smile took on a bashful tilt, "I uh… um… Sakura's vitals are looking good today. We think she'll wake up soon."

Iruka grinned, relieved, "that's wonderful. Thank you for telling me."

"Not at all," Iashi replied, "I was wondering Iruka-sensei… what are you doing tonight? It's just that there's a new restaurant opening tonight next to the dango shop and I was hoping you'd like to go with me."

"Oh, I uh…" Iruka's eyes widened when he noticed the slight flush in Iashi's cheeks, "you mean… as in… a date?" His voice had risen steadily higher in mild panic.

Iashi smiled nervously, "yes… would you like to?"

Iruka swallowed. He had no idea what to say. He liked Iashi, he certainly didn't want to offend him or hurt him, but he hadn't for a moment considered that Iashi might harbour those sort of feelings for him, he was thrown for a loop.

Of course, he couldn't say yes, every emotion that dwelled within his body was completely owned by Hatake Kakashi, going on a date with someone else would feel akin to sacrilege.

"I… I'm sorry Iashi-san, I can't," Iruka replied, wincing at the words and hoping Iashi would understand.

"Oh," Iashi's smile became slightly strained, "how about tomorrow night?"

Iruka bit his lip, "no, I mean… I can't, I'm sorry, I'm… um… seeing someone."

Iashi's eyes widened, "oh! Right! Sorry… I didn't realise…"

"It's fine," Iruka tried to laugh, to lighten the tense atmosphere, "it's not really public knowledge, you weren't to know."

Iashi nodded, but he suddenly couldn't meet Iruka's eyes, "not to worry… I should be going… I'll… bye Iruka-sensei."

"Bye…" Iruka called after the medic-nin as he hurried off down the corridor. He felt horribly uncomfortable, guilty despite the fact that he hadn't done anything wrong. He stood there until the sound of Iashi's footsteps faded away, and then turned back towards the door to Sakura's room, pushing all thoughts of dates and medics out of his head as he turned the door handle.

oO0Oo

Kakashi had turned to stone in the doorway. His legs were too heavy to move. He hadn't really known what to expect when he went to see Sakura, he had actually been concentrating on not thinking about it, on putting it to the back of his mind until he was forced to face her unconscious form.

Lying still upon the hospital bed, she might have been a dead. Sakura wasn't supposed to be so still, her face wasn't supposed to be so slack, there should always be some sort of play of emotions upon Sakura's face, but there was nothing, no indication that she lived but for the slow, almost imperceptible rise and fall of her chest.

Iruka was smoothing her hair back with a sad smile on his face, sitting on the chair beside the bed. There were countless flowers adorning the room, so many that Kakashi could barely see the walls for all of the coloured petals. He found himself focusing upon the sunflower in the corner rather than upon Sakura. The guilt that he had forgotten about had started to eat away at him again, carving out a hollow inside him where his guilt could burrow and fester.

"Kakashi," Iruka's voice was soft and gentle, but it was almost like a physical slap to Kakashi, his eyes were forced to meet Iruka's.

"She'll be fine," Iruka said. He was smiling carefully, speaking in low, soothing tones, as though he was talking to a frightened child or an injured animal. "The medics think she'll wake up soon."

Kakashi nodded, "I know." He had asked Tsunade about Sakura's condition before she had been whisked away by Shizune to attend her meeting. He knew that Sakura would be alright, that Tsunade was not worried and so Kakashi shouldn't be either, but he couldn't just banish his fear when he had seen Sakura drenched in her own blood, when she had come so close to dying and it had been because of him, it had been his fault.

Now that he was looking at Sakura, he couldn't look away. His eyes were locked onto her face, at her closed eyes, her pale skin, her limp hair. Sakura's eyes should be open and blazing, her skin should be flushed with colour, her hair should be glossy and vibrant. He could barely recognise her.

"Kakashi," the touch of Iruka's hand on his arm startled him. He hadn't noticed Iruka stand up and walk across the room towards him. He blinked as he turned to Iruka and recoiled at the pity he saw in Iruka's face.

"She'll be alright," Iruka said, "come on. Let's go and see Hanabi."

Kakashi looked back towards Sakura, and as he went to nod in acquiescence and let the chuunin lead him from the room, a shard of sunlight shot across the room, highlighting the lavender pink of her hair, and suddenly she wasn't dead, she was only sleeping.

He was always running away from those he cared for. For years he had distanced himself from everyone, afraid of losing another precious person. He was tired of running. It was time he looked his fear in the eye and proved that he wasn't a coward.

"I'll stay," he said quietly, "I think I need to."

Iruka frowned in concern, but Kakashi smiled at him, "you can go if you want," he said, "I don't mind. I think I'd rather be alone with Sakura. You want to see Hanabi, don't you?"

"Y-yes," Iruka nodded, "but I can stay here with you…"

Kakashi shook his head, "you don't have to. I'll be fine, I'll meet you later."

He watched uncertainty flash across Iruka's face, but after a few moments the chuunin nodded once and let his hand fall away from Kakashi's arm.

"I'll be waiting for you," Iruka said with one last smile before he turned towards the doorway.

When Kakashi was alone in the room with Sakura, surrounded by a forest of flowers, he moved slowly towards her sleeping form until he was close enough to slip her hand into his.

"And to think," Kakashi sighed, "you were supposed to be the one I _didn't_ have to worry about."

oO0Oo

"What about this one?" Konohamaru asked eagerly, holding up a yellow tulip.

"It means 'there's sunshine in your smile,'" she replied.

"And this?" he held up the daisy.

"It can mean 'innocence,' 'purity,' or 'I'll never tell,'" she said patiently. She found that Konohamaru wasn't so annoying to be around when he was using his brain. He actually learnt pretty quickly, and his curiosity was endless, he had been plying Hanabi with questions about the meanings behind flowers since she had told him that the geranium he had been carrying around in that bunch of flowers meant 'stupidity.'

"So you can actually send secret codes and messages with flowers?" Konohamaru's eyebrows shot up.

"Yes," Hanabi replied, "don't you pay attention in class?"

Konohamaru bristled, "yeah… to the interesting stuff… like weapons and jutsu and… stuff. But no one said that flowers were interesting, they just said we were going to learn about flowers and I switched off! They should have called the lesson 'Secret Ninja Message Sending' or something."

Hanabi rolled her eyes, "you should pay attention to everything if you want to be a good shinobi."

Konohamaru shrugged, "what's the point? All this stuff we learn in class, it isn't going to prepare us for actually _being_ shinobi. When we're in the middle of a battle, about to die, we aren't going to think back to our classes are we? We'll learn all of the important stuff when we're genin. Right now we just need to learn enough to actually graduate and _become _genin."

It was Hanabi's turn to raise her eyebrows. She tilted her head to the side, as though looking at Konohamaru from a new angle would help her to understand the boy better. He actually made sense, which wasn't something Hanabi would ever have considered of Konohamaru before. She was surprised, but it was a nice surprise.

"Hello there," Iruka-sensei called suddenly from the doorway, "how are you feeling Hanabi-chan?"

Hanabi smoothed the covers over her lap and nodded, "fine, thank you Iruka-sensei."

Iruka-sensei frowned at Hanabi's knees, at the ball of beige fur curled up asleep, "what is Pakkun doing here? I thought he was still in my house."

"Why would Kakashi-sensei's dog be in your house, Iruka-sensei?" Konohamaru squinted at him in suspicion.

Iruka-sensei's eyes widened, but he recovered himself fairly well. He coughed slightly to clear his throat and smiled, "I was dog-sitting."

Hanabi bit her lips together to stop herself from laughing, but Iruka noticed. He frowned at her for an instant before recognition spread across his face, he had realised that she knew he had been lying about dog-sitting, and Hanabi had to look away because the embarrassed flush to his face was making her tremble with mirth. There was something wrong with her. She had always been able to keep a firm grip on her emotions before, but lately she had been smiling without meaning to. It wasn't how a good shinobi should behave, but she found that she was enjoying herself more without having to reign her feelings in.

"H-Hanabi?" Iruka-sensei stared at her in shock, "are you alright? You… you're laughing!"

Hanabi slapped her hands over her mouth and completely failed to stifle her giggles.

oO0Oo

Kakashi moved the daffodils closer to Sakura's bed, so that she would see them when she woke up. He wasn't sure why, but he thought that they might be her favourite, so he wanted them to be the first thing she saw when she woke up, because he was calmer know, he knew that she would wake up. He was no longer terrified that he would never get to speak to her again.

He arranged the flowers until they were all facing her, watching her sleeping form with their bright yellow faces. There wasn't anything else he could do for her, he wasn't exactly helping just standing at her bedside, but he had come to terms with how frightened he had been at the thought of her dying. It was normal to fear the deaths of the people who were important to you. Sakura had said something similar to him the last time they had spoken, she had said _"__You're supposed to worry about the people that are important to you, it's normal!"_ and she was right of course, it had taken Kakashi longer to realise than she had, but he had finally learnt his lesson.

He glanced around the room one last time, looked down at Sakura's sleeping face, before he turned away and strode towards the door.

He froze when he heard a change in the sound of her breathing. He was frozen for a second, unable to even breathe, but when he worked up the nerve to turn around, Sakura's eyes were open. The fiery green of her eyes were startling within the countless colours of the flowers.

"K-Kakashi-sensei?" she rasped, and Kakashi's mind went blank. He was completely empty. He could only stare. But then she tried to sit up, and panic speared through his chest.

"Don't move!" he yelled frantically.

Sakura froze, staring at him with wide eyes, "why?" she whispered, glancing around nervously as though a gang of bandits were hiding behind one of the bouquets.

"You…" Kakashi swallowed, "you nearly died, Sakura." He took a shaky step towards her, incoherently terrified that she would move too abruptly and inadvertently tear the healed flesh of her abdomen and bleed all over the bed sheets.

Sakura frowned and propped herself up despite Kakashi's panicked cries, until she was sitting up on the mattress and frowning in confusion at him.

"What happened?" she coughed slightly, "where… Shinichi!" her eyes widened, "it was him! Shinichi… he…"

"Stop," Kakashi said, sounding a fair bit calmer than he felt, "he's been apprehended Sakura, just lie back down…" he placed his hands almost reverently on her shoulders and guided her carefully back onto the pillows. She was blinking up at him, and her eyes were the exact shade of blazing green that they should be, her skin was her usual, perfect shade of rose pink.

"Do you feel alright?" he asked as he pulled his hands back and clenched his fists to disguise his shaking, "I'll… get a medic, wait there…"

He was backing away from the bed, sliding towards the door, but Sakura turned those peridot green eyes upon him and he was unable to move.

"Kakashi-sensei?" she said quietly, "why did… Shinichi… I don't understand…"

Kakashi's heart clenched. Sakura had thought of Shinichi as a friend, and he had hurt her. He grinded his teeth together, regretting that Shinichi was dead because that meant that he couldn't kill him for putting that look of confused pain on Sakura's face.

"He was a missing-nin from another village," Kakashi said, unwilling to tell her exactly who Shinichi was. She would no doubt try to accept some of the blame for everything that had happened, and he wouldn't let her. He didn't want her to feel any guilt over what had happened, he didn't want her to take any responsibility whatsoever. "It turns out that he had a grudge against me."

Sakura's brow furrowed, "a grudge…"

Kakashi nodded, "he came here to get even with me for something he thought I did in the past."

"That…" Sakura's face suddenly melted from confused to livid, "that BASTARD!" she thrust herself back into a sitting position, snarling angrily, "I befriended him! How dare he! I bought him lunch! I showed him around the village! I…" she gasped, "I healed his wounds…" her voice was a low dangerous rumble, "and the entire time he was here to hurt you? Where is he? I'LL KILL HIM!"

Kakashi blinked in shock. Sakura was struggling with the IV tube and the blankets that were tangled around her legs so that she could get out of bed, her eyes were flashing, and if Shinichi had still been alive, Kakashi would have feared for his life. But his eyes were swimming suddenly, he felt as though he was about to burst. Sakura was awake, and she was _yelling_.

"Don't… Sakura…" but Sakura wasn't listening to him, she was beyond verbal communication, he could see the hairs on her arms standing up in rage.

"SAKURA!" he bellowed, and the volume managed to startle Sakura enough to make her fall still.

"Lie down," he said, pointing meaningfully to the pillows, "you nearly died, you aren't going anywhere."

Sakura blinked at him in surprise, and Kakashi wondered if that had been the first time that she had ever heard him raise his voice. She nodded slowly, lowered herself back onto the mattress at Kakashi's instruction, and watched him as he pulled the covers up to her chin.

Behind him he could hear the scramble of feet. Medics were hurrying into the room, moving in upon Sakura and chattering purposefully, checking her drip and firing off questions, each one smiling in relief now that Sakura was awake. But Sakura never took her eyes off Kakashi, and despite the buzz of people around her, she smiled at him.

"Kakashi-sensei," she said, and even though her eyes were drooping tiredly, and her voice was barely a whisper, Kakashi could hear her perfectly, "you were worried about me…"

Kakashi chuckled, his happiness was a bubble in his chest, rapidly expanding until there was no room inside him for any other emotion.

"Of course I was."

oO0Oo

Iruka closed the door behind him, careful not to trap Pakkun in the doorjamb. Within the room he could still hear Hanabi laughing, and Konohamaru's laughter had mingled with hers. The boy hadn't even known what he was laughing at, he had simply been infected by Hanabi's giggles.

Iruka had spent years trying to get that girl to smile. And then out of the blue she had broken down into fits of hysterical laughter with absolutely no explanation. But the sound was beautiful, and he could only hope that he would hear it again.

"Where's Kakashi," Pakkun yawned from near his ankle.

"He was with Sakura," Iruka bit his lip worriedly. Kakashi had gone deathly pale when he had entered the room. Iruka had hated seeing him like that, he had wanted nothing more than to get Kakashi out of there, to banish the haunted look from his face. But Kakashi had wanted to stay, and as much as Iruka couldn't bear to leave him alone like that, there had been utter certainty in his voice.

"Come on," he said to the pug, "let's go get him."

Pakkun followed him through the corridor, and when they rounded the corner they stopped as Kakashi sauntered towards them from the other end of the hallway.

"Are you alright?" Iruka breathed, hurrying towards Kakashi, expecting to see the same haunted look in Kakashi's eyes that he had been wearing earlier, but Kakashi was smiling, his eyes were crinkled happily, the sight caused Iruka to stumble on his way towards the jounin.

"Sakura woke up," Kakashi said simply.

Iruka's breath hitched. He took a step closer to the jounin, brimming with relief, "she did? Then let's go back, I want to see her…"

"She's asleep now," Kakashi said, "she was only awake for a few minutes, and I think she tired herself out in that short time. But her parents had only gone to get something to eat, they came straight back when they heard that she'd woken up. They're with her now."

Iruka nodded. They should leave Sakura with her parents, but just knowing that she had woken up, that she really was going to be alright, had lifted a weight from Iruka that he hadn't even known was there.

"How's Hanabi?" Kakashi asked.

Iruka grinned, "laughing her head off," he said, "she's fine."

Kakashi nodded cheerfully, practically glowing with satisfaction as he looked down at Pakkun.

"Where did you get to?"

Pakkun sat down on the floor and scratched furiously behind his ear, "I had business to attend to. So… what did the Hokage have to say about your arm?"

"It's fine," Kakashi replied, "I'll be back on active duty in a couple of days."

A weight dropped heavily into Iruka's stomach. Kakashi would be back on active duty. That meant he would be going on missions. Dangerous missions for weeks at a time. All of the laughter that had been following him died suddenly.

"So you're allowed to form seals now?" the pug huffed.

Kakashi nodded, "so you can leave me alone."

"Thank god for that," Pakkun growled, "the two of you were driving me insane." He sent a sharp glare up towards Iruka, who met his gaze evenly.

"I hope you realise that it's up to you to stop him from getting himself killed while I'm not around," Pakkun said gruffly.

Iruka smiled, "and you trust me with that job do you?"

Pakkun turned his nose up, "I don't have a choice really, do I?"

"I am standing right here you know," Kakashi said dryly.

Pakkun glanced from Iruka to Kakashi and sighed, "maybe it won't end in tears," and with a swirl of smoke, he was gone.

When the smoke dissipated Iruka looked up at Kakashi. His stomach gave a tiny jolt when he saw that Kakashi was watching him carefully, with something soft and attentive in his eye. He felt lightheaded whenever he knew that Kakashi was watching him, giving all of his attention to Iruka. He felt like the most important being in the world when Kakashi's focus was placed solely upon him. It made it slightly difficult to breathe.

He smiled hesitantly. Not for the first time he felt overwhelmed by how quickly his feelings for Kakashi had grown, but he was still unsure where they were supposed to go from here, he didn't know what Kakashi expected from him.

He hadn't been planning on telling Kakashi, it just leapt free from his mouth before he could stop it, "Iashi-san asked me out on a date."

Kakashi blinked in surprise. Iruka cringed a little on the inside; he hadn't meant to say it, but now that he had he was eager to know how Kakashi would react. If the jounin simply shrugged and didn't care then Iruka was sure that he would shrivel up and die.

But Kakashi's eye deemed to darken. He frowned at Iruka, and in a low, angry voice he asked "what did you say?"

Iruka swallowed, "I told him…" his hands felt damp with sweat, he didn't know how Kakashi would react to what Iruka had told Iashi, but at least when he told him he would know for sure where he stood with the jounin. He still didn't know what Kakashi wanted from him, if this was an actual relationship or not.

"I told him that I'm seeing someone," he said.

Kakashi's eye widened. Iruka was on the verge of throwing himself at Kakashi, of telling him that he had only said it to let Iashi down gently, that he didn't expect anything from Kakashi, that his heart wasn't cracking apart because he wanted _everything _from him. He wanted to spend the rest of his life telling other people that he was seeing someone and meaning Kakashi, and if Kakashi didn't want that then he would shatter.

But Kakashi smiled as he put his hands in his pockets. "Good," he said, and it felt as though the ground had fallen out from beneath Iruka's feet. He beamed up at Kakashi, ridiculously happy.

"Which way did he go?" Kakashi asked suddenly, looking up and down the corridor.

"Who?" Iruka asked, still grinning. He was sure that the world would stop spinning in a moment, no one should be allowed to be as happy as he was right then. Kakashi _had_ cared, he had been glad that Iruka had told Iashi that he was seeing someone, and Iruka's heart had begun to do the can-can in his chest.

"Iashi," Kakashi replied as he chose a direction and started walking, peering through open doors as he went, "I'll have to kill him, obviously."

Iruka thought he would burst. He laughed and tossed his arms around Kakashi's neck, not caring who saw them. Kakashi stumbled with the sudden weight of Iruka, and wrapped his arms around him.

"You can't kill him," Iruka laughed, "you don't need to, I only have eyes for you."

Kakashi's arms tightened around him, "that's alright then."


	21. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

The door to the Hokage's office wasn't usually so heavy, but then again, everything felt heavier. His feet might have been made of stone, he had to drag them along the carpeted floor as he crossed the room.

"K-Kakashi?" Tsunade's mouth fell open as he shuffled to a stop on the other side of the desk from her. She was holding a pen poised over some official looking paperwork, but Kakashi could barely even see the ink upon the parchment, he couldn't focus his eye that much.

"Mission completed, Hokage-sama," Kakashi smiled tiredly as he patted his flak jacket, "hmm… where did I put it?"

"K-Kakashi?" Tsunade blinked, as though the image of him would disappear if she hid behind her eyelids.

"You've said that already Hokage-sama," Kakashi chuckled, "ah… here it is." He pulled the scroll from the pouch on the left of his flak jacket and dropped it unceremoniously onto the desk in front of Tsunade, "that contains all of the information you asked for…"

"You're not due back for three days!" Tsunade cried in disbelief.

Kakashi shrugged, "I ran all the way back."

"You…" Tsunade shook her head and rubbed her eyes, "no… I don't want to know. Get out."

Kakashi smiled as he shoved his hands into his pockets. He had been planning to go straight to Iruka and letting one of his dogs deliver the scroll to the Hokage, but the look on the woman's face was enough to make him glad he had come himself.

"I simply couldn't wait to get back and see your smiling face, Hokage-sama…"

"OUT!"

Kakashi darted through the door before the Hokage could throw anything at him and winked at the ANBU standing guard outside.

"She wants me," he grinned, "isn't it obvious?"

oO0Oo

The fog clung to the air, curling in wisps as Narumi moved through it. It was getting dark, and the mist was thicker than usual, but she would know her way even if she was blind. She would be able to find their names even if she was searching in her sleep. If the world was broken apart and the pieces scattered to the wind, she would still be able to find the small engravings in the Wall of the Dead that honoured her friends.

The Mizukage hadn't wanted to know what had happened when they found Shinichi. She thought she understood why, and she envied him his ignorance. She wished she could wipe the stain of what he had done from her mind. Only Narumi and her sensei knew how Shinichi had died, only they knew why Narumi now wore armour weaved from strands of golden hair.

She came to rest beneath a blueberry tree, and turned to face the dark surface of the wall. They were right there, at eye level, Shinichi's name carved above Jin's. At first she hadn't wanted Shinichi's name etched into the Wall of the Dead, she hadn't thought he deserved to be honoured amongst those who had bled and died for their comrades. But he belonged there, despite what he had done. She could forgive him, because she knew that Jin would.

She pressed her fingertips to their names and smiled. One day there would be no one to seek out these names, they would be among the countless forgotten who had once upon a time been mourned. But she would remember them for as long as she breathed, and she would tell the genin team that she would be getting soon about two boys who had been brothers, who fought and laughed and were home to one another. Who were home to her.

They would be forgotten eventually. But never by Narumi.

oO0Oo

His teacup was empty. Iruka leant onto the table and propped his head up in his hand, staring at the dregs of his tea and contemplating going to make another one. There was a pile of unmarked essays near his elbow and a green pen in his hand. He had been using a red pen, until the ink became blood and the words became weapons. He hadn't written a single word since he had fetched the green pen, just sat staring into his teacup, wondering if he could get past the wards around Kakashi's apartment so that he could go to sleep in the jounin's bed.

He felt empty. Devoid of purpose. Utterly apathetic. And he knew that he would be useless for the next three days. That was if Kakashi deigned to get back on time.

A knock at the door startled him out of his musings. He didn't move for a few moments, pondering if he could get away with pretending that he wasn't home. But the lights were on, whoever was at his door would know he was there. With a heartfelt sigh Iruka rose to his feet, dropped the green pen onto the table and strode towards the door.

He had only just opened the door when Kakashi fell into him and _clung_. His heart made a valiant attempt to spiral up his throat and leap out of his mouth. Kakashi wrapped his arms around his neck and went boneless, leaving Iruka to carry all of his weight.

"I'm home," the jounin mumbled into Iruka's collar.

Iruka remembered how to breathe as he clutched the jounin against him and pulled him into the warmth of the house, "you're back! You're _early_!"

"I ran," Kakashi chuckled around a yawn.

"Ran?" Iruka grinned when Kakashi pressed his face into Iruka's neck. All of the colour in the world seemed to be brighter suddenly.

"Mmm," Kakashi sighed, "my feet are killing me."

Iruka almost had to drag him to the couch. Kakashi smelled like smoke and salt, and beneath that was the delicate layer of orange blossoms and sandalwood that Iruka recognised as distinctly Kakashi.

"Are you hurt?" he asked as he pressed Kakashi into the cushions, "have you seen the Hokage? Did she say you're alright?"

"I'm fine," Kakashi pulled his mask down, and Iruka saw exhaustion written into each inch of Kakashi's face, "tired."

"Because you ran," Iruka smiled. His heart swelled to three times its normal size.

"I missed you," Kakashi replied.

Iruka's smile tried to split his face in two. He couldn't make his lungs work. He felt lightheaded. Kakashi sagged back into the couch and closed his eyes, a small, weary smile playing upon his lips. Now that Iruka had him back, right in front of him and perfectly fine, if exhausted, he allowed himself to admit how worried he had been. He would have to get used to sleepless nights if he was going to be with a jounin. Iruka dropped onto the couch in relief and leant into Kakashi, because the only time his lungs seemed to work was when he was breathing him in.

"I missed you too," he replied softly against Kakashi's lips. They parted eagerly beneath his, warm and supple, and Iruka moaned low in his throat as he dipped his tongue into Kakashi's mouth.

Kakashi nudged him back suddenly, forcing Iruka to end the kiss. He blinked into the jounin's unmasked face in confusion, desperate to taste him again and fill the hole Kakashi had made inside him when he had been gone.

"Iruka," Kakashi whispered, as though he was about to impart the secrets of the universe, "I love you."

A gasp left Iruka's lips before he could stop it. Kakashi's eyes were full of hope and fear and his hands were careful as they cupped Iruka's face. It felt as though everything inside him had started singing, his soul felt too big to be contained by his body.

He groped for something to say, but he hadn't needed to, because Kakashi had only voiced what was already sitting upon Iruka's tongue. He had had the answer before he even knew the question, and his reply was already formed by his heart before his lips knew the words. He didn't need to think about it, he already knew, he had given his heart wings and let it fly away, and despite how vulnerable that made him feel, he had never been so happy.

"I love you too," he whispered, and he returned Kakashi's smile.

_End._


End file.
